21 die in Iraqi bomb attacks

BOMBS killed at least 21 people across Iraq yesterday, security officials said, two days after a suicide truck bomb in the north of the country killed 73 people in the deadliest attack for more than a year.

The blasts came as the US military prepares to withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities by the end of June, and they raise questions about the Iraqi security forces’ ability to stand alone in the face of a stubborn insurgency.

A roadside bomb killed three people and wounded 30 in a market in north Baghdad’s Shaab district, and a car bomb killed five people in Karrada and wounded 20 others in Baghdad, police said.