Iraq Market Car Bombing Kills 10

Jun 04, 04:03 AM

Current Headlines: A car bomb struck an open-air market north-east of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than two dozen.

The attack came as the US military revealed 14 of its soldiers died in incidents in various parts of Iraq over the weekend.

The blast in Baghdad happened just after noon as the commercial area was packed with shoppers in Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite enclave in the volatile Diyala province.

Gunmen also killed a police officer and a relative as they were driving in Baiyaa, a neighbourhood in western Baghdad that has seen a recent rise in sectarian violence despite a US-Iraqi security crackdown aimed at stopping such attacks.

Meanwhile, tensions are rising in northern Iraq as Turkey builds up its military forces on Iraq's border. The move appears at pressuring Iraq to rein in the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, separatists who launch raids into south-east Turkey's Kurdish region from hideouts in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, ending a visit to the Kurdish north on Saturday, also sought to ease the tensions but warned his government won't allow the relatively peaceful area "to be turned into a battleground".

(c) 2007 The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.