A suicide bomber drove a minibus into a crowded market in Iraq's Shia city of Kufa today killing 16 people, officials said, in the latest in a string of sectarian attacks blamed on al-Qaeda Sunni militants.
Witnesses said the bomber drove a minibus into an open-air market packed with morning shoppers in central Kufa, near the holy Shia city of Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.
"I saw the minibus coming through the crowds. There was one person driving. He tried to park the vehicle and then it exploded. There were many bodies," Mohan Ali told Reuters.
Salem Nima, head of the media centre in the provincial health department of Najaf, said the blast killed 16 people and wounded 70. Provincial spokesman Ahmed Duaibi blamed al-Qaeda.
The blast ripped through a nearby restaurant, blowing out windows, knocking over tables and scattering body parts. In the wake of the explosion, angry protesters gathered at the site and chanted slogans against US forces and government officials.
"At least five or six people were killed inside the restaurant. There are pools of blood on the floor," Ali al-Hamadani, the restaurant's owner said.