Truck Bomb Kills 17 in Iraq as Violence Continues

A truck bomb ripped through a busy
market north of the Iraqi capital
Thursday, killing at least 17 people and
wounding dozens of others.
The attack in Samarra - a largely Sunni
Muslim city about 100 kilometers north
of Baghdad - and a separate bombing
that killed at least six in a Baghdad
suburb - are the latest in a surge of
apparent sectarian violence this year.
The Thursday evening bombing hit the
Samarra market, the city's largest
grocery shopping area, as shoppers
sought to take advantage of reduced
prices on surplus stock before closing.
At least 75 people were killed and more
than 200 others wounded Wednesday in
a wave of bombings and shootings
across the country.
Analysts say the country appears to be
sliding back toward civil war, as Sunni
militants linked to al-Qaida mount
increasingly deadly attacks on Shi'ite
targets on a near daily basis.
The United Nations says nearly 4,000
people have died this year, most of them
since April, when forces of the Shi'ite-
led government cracked down on a
Sunni protest encampment north of
Baghdad.

Site of a car bomb