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Iraq

Violence continues unabated

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 9, 2006

BAGHDAD - On the same day that U.S. forces killed terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida in Iraq group has been blamed for some of Iraq's bloodiest bombings, at least five bombings in and around Baghdad killed at least 40 people and wounded around 120.

A bomb targeting a police patrol killed two officers and four civilians and wounded 11 people in the New Baghdad area in the eastern part of the city, Lt. Ali Abbas said.

The worst bloodshed came about an hour later, when a bomb exploded at the entrance to a fruit market in the same area. Thirteen people were killed and at least 39 were wounded, police Col. Ahmed Abod said.

A parked car loaded with explosives blew up in the northern suburb of Kazimiyah, killing six people and wounding 15, police said. Police Capt. Mohammed Al-Waili said the attack appeared aimed at day laborers.

Another parked car exploded in the capital's Amin market, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, police said.

A car bomb later hit the outdoor market in the Shaab neighborhood, a mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 10, police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that four people were killed, including an Australian security guard, in a roadside bombing in northern Iraq.

He said the 34-year-old Australian, who wasn't identified, worked for a private security agency and was guarding a convoy. There was no further information.

[Last modified June 9, 2006, 06:41:11]