Bomb kills 12 at southern Iraq livestock market

A car bomb exploded Thursday in a crowded livestock market selling sheep, cattle and goats south of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens, Iraqi police and medical officials said.

The parked car exploded at the height of the morning buying and selling at the market on the outskirts of Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, said Iraqi police Maj. Muthana Khalid. The blast scattered bodies and animal carcasses throughout the market, a witness said.

While violence has declined dramatically in Iraq during the past 18 months, there are concerns about a possible upward trend in bloodshed after a series of high-profile attacks on civilians and U.S. and Iraqi security forces in recent weeks.

All the dead and injured in Thursday’s bombing were civilians, Khalid said.

Dr. Ahmed al-Hasnawi, from the Hillah General Hospital, said 60 people were wounded but two of them died after being taken to the hospital.

The U.S. military put the casualty toll at 10 dead and 56 wounded.

Markets, mosques and religious shrines have been a favorite target of insurgents in Iraq because of the possibility of high casualty counts.

Dozens of cattle merchants, farmers, butchers and buyers were at the market in Hamza al-Gharbi, a mostly Shiite community a short distance from Hillah, when the bomb exploded.

The market operates daily but is at its busiest on Thursdays and Fridays, said cattle merchant Rajab Abdul-Hussein.

Mohammed Abbas, a butcher, described a grisly scene of bodies and animal carcasses strewn throughout the market in the aftermath of the bombing.
“Blood and meat were everywhere,” Abbas said.