BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber crashed his car into a central Baghdad market crowded with Shiites just seconds after another car bomb tore through the stalls, leaving 88 dead Monday in the bloodiest attack in two months.
The bombings, along with a double bombing that killed 12 people in the town of Khalis, battered Shiites during one of their holiest festivals.
In all, 137 people were killed or found dead across Iraq, including a teacher who was gunned down on her way to work at a girls' school in a mainly Sunni area of Baghdad. The toll also included the bullet-riddled bodies of at least 30 people, apparent victims of death squads largely run by Shiite militias.
An al-Qaida-linked coalition of Iraqi Sunni insurgents claimed its fighters shot down an American military helicopter in a Saturday crash that killed 12 U.S. soldiers. The U.S. military has said the cause of the crash is undetermined.
People are also reading…
Monday's explosions, which could be heard a mile away from the banks of the Tigris River, tore through the Bab al-Sharqi market shortly after noon.
Hours later, a bomb struck a market in the predominantly Shiite town of Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, and a mortar shell slammed into the market. At least 12 people were killed and 29 wounded, police said.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, denounced Monday's attack and blamed Sunnis. "The alliance of the terrorists and the remnants of Saddam have committed an ugly crime," he said in a statement.
Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili said at least 78 people were killed and 156 were wounded; police and hospital officials put the death toll at 88.
The attack occurred two days after the start of the 10-day festival leading up to Ashoura, which marks the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the most revered Shiite saints.
Late Monday, the U.S. military announced it had launched a joint drive with Iraqi forces into a dangerous Sunni neighborhood in north Baghdad, a region that has seen significant violence in the sectarian warfare shaking the capital.
A U.S. soldier was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq, raising to 28 the number of American troops killed in the past three days; the U.S. military also reported that two Marines were killed Sunday in Anbar province.
Al-Qaida's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, mocked President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, challenging him to send "the entire army" and vowing in a new videotape to defeat them. The SITE Institute, which tracks al-Qaida messages, said Monday it had intercepted the video.
U.S. toll in Iraq
• Deaths: 3,029
• Wounded: 22,951
Latest identifications
• Cpl. Jacob H. Neal, 23, of San Marcos, Texas; assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Lance Cpl. Luis J. Castillo, 20, of Lawton, Mich.; assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Lansing, Mich.
• Pfc. Allen B. Jaynes, 21, of Henderson, Texas; assigned to 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
Source: Department of Defense.
