34 Killed in Twin Explosions in Iraqi City

BAGHDAD – Twin explosions ripped through a crowded Iraqi market in a city southeast of Baghdad, killing 34 people and shattering what had been a relatively peaceful holy month of Ramadan.

The blasts in Kut, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, went off as construction workers were gathered in a market selling generators and other appliances.

Police spokesman Lt. Col. Dhurgam Mohammed Hassan said the first bomb went off in a freezer used to keep drinks cold. Then as rescuers and onlookers gathered, a parked car bomb exploded.

The top medical official in the province where Kut is located, Diaa al-Aboudi, said 34 people died in the explosion. Hassan put the number of the wounded from the twin blasts at 60.

Violence has dropped considerably in Iraq from the heyday of the war when such bloody bombings were an almost daily occurrence. But the persistence of the violence in Iraq, albeit at a lower level, underscores the ability of insurgents to undermine the country's security.

The Kut blasts were the first major act of violence since Iraq's political leaders earlier this month announced that they would begin negotiations with the United States over whether to keep a small number of American forces in the country past Dec. 31.

All American forces are to leave the country by the end of this year but both Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's attack.

The last such large bombing came on July 5, when 37 people died during an explosion in Taji, north of Baghdad.