Iraq:A suicide car bomb struck a market in the Shia district of Sadr City and police said 17 people died yesterday, a day after a blast targeting university students killed 70 in what appeared to be a renewed campaign of Sunni insurgent violence against Shias.
The latest explosion occurred at 3.55pm near the outdoor Mereidi market, one of the neighbourhood's most popular commercial centres, and wounded 33 people, police said.
On Tuesday, twin car bombs struck al-Mustansiriya university in Baghdad, two miles from Sadr City, as students lined up for the ride home, leaving at least 70 dead and more than 130 injured.
It was the single deadliest attack on civilians in Iraq since November 23rd, when a series of car bombs and mortar attacks by suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters in Sadr City killed at least 215 people. Baghdad streets were crowded yesterday with cars and minivans carrying the wooden coffins of the victims.
Many headed to the holy city of Najaf where Shias prefer to bury their dead, although some were headed to a Sunni cemetery in central Baghdad, reflecting the religiously mixed nature of the university.
Hussein Mohammed, a lecturer in the university's French language department, said the workers were still finding human remains and only some guards and teachers were on campus.
"We are trying to heal our wounds and start again," he said.
Some university professors participated in the funeral procession, along with relatives and friends of the students killed, chanting "Shias and Sunnis are brothers".
Police raised the casualty toll from the attack to 70 people killed and 133 wounded.
The Iraqi parliament held a moment of silence for the students who were killed. Sunni legislator Alaa Makki, head of the parliament's education committee, blamed the attack on "terrorist gangs".
A total of 142 Iraqis were killed or found dead on Tuesday - 124 of those in Baghdad - in what appeared to be a renewed campaign of Sunni insurgent violence against Shia targets.
The sharp rise in attacks coincided with the release of UN figures that showed an average of 94 civilians died each day in sectarian bloodshed in 2006.
Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, met the ambassadors of several countries, including the US, to shore up support for his planned security operation to quell the sectarian violence in Baghdad. He pledged to act equally against all perpetrators of violence.
The Shia leader has faced criticism that his reluctance to confront Shia militias has led to the failure of two previous attempts to pacify the capital.
Meanwhile, violence was unrelenting yesterday. Another suicide car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 290km (180) miles north of Baghdad, after guards opened fire as the driver approached a police station.
The blast killed 10 people and injured dozens. - ( AP )