IRAQ:A suicide car bomber shattered a relative lull in Baghdad's violence yesterday, killing at least 28 people in a blast that touched off raging fires and a blizzard of bloodstained paper from a popular book market.
It was the largest bombing in the capital in three days, and came on the heels of a major push by nearly 1,200 US and Iraqi troops into Sadr City, a Shia militia stronghold and base for fighters loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Iraqi troops in Sadr City set up checkpoints and took a far more visible presence than Americans, who led the push into the area on Sunday. The move was an apparent attempt to avoid Shia anger in a place of past street battles with US forces. But pressure on al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia continued on other fronts.
In the southern city of Karbala, the home of a Mahdi Army leader was raided in a joint US-Iraqi operation, the US military said. Al-Sadr's followers also warned the Iraqi government they would not relinquish cabinet posts unless other members of the ruling coalition do the same - setting the stage for a major political battle as prime minister Nouri Maliki prepares to reshuffle his administration.
Black smoke drifted over central Baghdad from burning shops, cars and book stalls in the mixed Sunni-Shia area around Mutanabi street along the Tigris river.
At least 66 people were wounded in the suicide blast, and the death toll could rise, police said. "Papers from the book market were floating through the air like leaflets dropped from a plane," said Naeem al-Daraji, a health ministry worker who was driving about 180 metres from the blast and was slightly injured by broken glass from his car window.
In other violence, gunmen opened fire on Shia pilgrims in several places around Baghdad, killing at least seven people, police said.