Bomb kills at least 61 in Baghdad Shia neighbourhood

A bomb ripped through a crowded market in Baghdad's main Shia district on Wednesday, killing at least 61 people and wounding more than 100 less than a week before a deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq's urban areas.

A series of blasts this week have killed more than 160 people, as U.S. and Iraqi officials warned they expected more violence before the U.S. withdrawal from cities.

U.S.troops already have begun pulling back from the joint bases they occupied with Iraqi security forces as part of a counterinsurgency strategy aimed at clearing volatile areas and holding them.

The recent spike in violence has raised new concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the people, but a U.S. military spokesman insisted that American combat troops would be out of the cities by Tuesday as required by a security pact.

In the past, bombings in Shia areas would be followed by mortar attacks against Sunni strongholds or execution-style killings that were the signature of Shia militias.

The explosion in Sadr City the deadliest to strike the sprawling slum in more than two years came just days after the U.S. military handed over to Iraqis its main base on the edge of the former Shia militia stronghold.

The strategic district was used by Shia militants to launch rockets onto the so-called Green Zone during the last major fighting in the city in 2008.

The bomb, which was hidden under vegetables on a motorized pushcart, exploded about 7 p.m., apparently timed to maximize casualties by striking shoppers buying food for their evening meal at the Mradi market.

Shrapnel was blown more than 600 metres away and some shops were set on fire, a police officer said.

Police and hospital officials said more than 100 people were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.