Prometheus 6

15 Killed in Baghdad, Shattering Growing Calm
Blast Is Deadliest In City in Months; Nine Die in Mosul
By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 24, 2007; A08

BAGHDAD, Nov. 23 -- The man walked into the crowded al-Ghazl animal market Friday, past police checkpoints and barricades, Humvees and Iraqi soldiers. An hour or so earlier, a U.S. patrol had passed through the market. He carried a bomb, hidden in a box containing birds for sale, witnesses said.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the bomb detonated, killing 15 people and injuring 55, according to Iraqi police, although the U.S. military said the death toll was eight. Those at the market were Iraqi civilians of different sects reviving a tradition that stretched back more than 100 years, when their fathers and grandfathers might have visited al-Ghazl every Friday, often bringing their children.

The attack was the deadliest in the capital in more than 2 1/2 months, delivering a blow to a rising sense of confidence among Iraqis that their nation is becoming more secure.

"I saw people flying in the air and hitting the ground," said Fadhil Hussein, a bearded pushcart vendor. "Everyone was panicking. There was smoke everywhere. The sound was so loud that it hurt my ears. They still hurt."