Iraqi market bombings kill at least 15

BAGHDAD - Bomb attacks at two crowded Iraqi markets killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens today, a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki unveiled a national reconciliation plan.

A bomb in a bag exploded in the market in Hilla, a mainly Shi'ite town south of Baghdad, killing at least eight people. Around the same time, a bomb on a parked motorcycle killed seven people and wounded 25 at a market in the mainly Shi'ite village of Khairnabat, northeast of Baghdad, witnesses and police said.

It was one of the bloodiest days in the country since al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike on June 7. At least 11 other people were reported killed in shootings and bombings across Iraq.

There was confusion over the Hilla death toll. Interior Ministry sources in Baghdad, citing Hilla police, said 17 people were killed and 25 wounded. But Hilla police spokesman Muthana al-Mamoury said eight people were killed and 58 wounded.

Hilla, situated 100 km south of Baghdad and surrounded by Sunni Arab areas from which insurgents draw support, has been the scene of numerous bombings over the past two years.

- REUTERS