Eight killed in Baghdad market blast

A car bomb tore through an open-air market west of Baghdad today, killing at least eight people, Iraqi police officials said.

It was the second consecutive day of attacks in the mostly Sunni Anbar province, raising questions about the ability of Iraqi security forces to keep the lid on violence as US troops withdraw from the region.

Today’s blast came at sundown, when a parked car rigged with explosives went off in a popular open-air market in Fallujah, about 65 kms west of the capital. At least 20 people were wounded.

The explosion also destroyed nearly a dozen cars and damaged at least nine stalls selling fruit and vegetables.

Fallujah has been shaken in recent weeks by a series of attacks on police and Iraqi army checkpoints.

Yesterday a suicide bomber killed at least six mourners at a funeral for a member of a prominent tribe with ties to both security forces and insurgents in Haditha, authorities said. At least 15 people were injured in that blast.

A week earlier, a tanker truck packed with explosives slammed into a police base near another Anbar city, Ramadi, killing at least seven people and wounding 16.