Baghdad blast kills at least 69

BAGHDAD, Iraq – at least 69 people were left dead and about 100 were injured in the latest outburst in a series of Sunni insurgent-related bombings.

As earlier reported by Yahoo! News, a bomb exploded at a crowded market at Baghdad's main Shiite district. So far this week, 160 people were already reported dead in recent bombings throughout the country. Meanwhile U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned that they expect more violence from the Sunni strongholds before the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops in Iraq's urban areas. A police officer revealed that the bomb was hidden under vegetables on a motorized pushcart and exploded at around 7 p.m. – theoretically to maximize the numbers of would-be casualties. Confusion about the number of casualties also become an issue, as the victims were rushed into different hospitals. An Interior Ministry official said 69 people were killed while Sadr city police reported 72 deaths. According to a U.S. Military official, American troops will be out of the cities come Tuesday next week as required in a security pact with the Iraqi government. At the moment troops had already been pulling back from joint military bases.