Bomb kills 13, wounds over 50 in Baghdad

A bomb killed 13 people and wounded over 50 when it exploded in an industrial area of Baghdad on Friday, just four days before United States combat troops are due to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns.

Defense and interior ministry officials confirmed the toll and said the bomb went off around 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) while people gathered at the market on the Muslim day of rest. The bomb was planted on a motorbike in a market specializing in motorcycles in Bab al-Sheikh in central Baghdad.

"People burned and bodies were thrown everywhere," Omar Hashem, 34, who was accompanying a friend to the market when the explosion happened.

"At first we ran away but we returned to help the victims," he added, his clothes covered in blood.

Bike trader Maytham Abdelamir, 23, crying, added: "There was a huge shockwave. I saw so many people burned; others were thrown in the air. My friend was killed."

Officials from two Baghdad hospitals told AFP 54 people had been wounded.

A spate of bombings in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq raises questions about the abilities of Iraqi security forces, whose ranks have swelled since they were disbanded after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, to combat a stubborn insurgency.

On Wednesday, 78 people were killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, just days after a truck bomb killed 73 people in the northern city of Kirkuk.

There was a huge shockwave. I saw so many people burned; others were thrown in the air. My friend was killed

Bike trader Maytham Abdelamir

Maliki attempts to reassure Iraqis

Such attacks have prompted angry responses from Iraqis who blame local security forces for failing to protect them.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki moved to reassure Iraqis on Thursday that his security forces were able to protect the population after a massive bomb killed dozens.

"We assure you of Iraqi forces' readiness for the mission, despite some security violations, and we assure you that we are now more stable and steady," Maliki said.

He appealed to Iraqis to inform the army and police of any potential attacks, to ensure that the country did not return to the sectarian violence that blighted it throughout 2006 and 2007.

Violence is a far cry from what it was during the height of sectarian killing in 2006-2007, but Iraq's untested forces and fractious political class still face major security challenges.

The U.S. withdrawal from urban combat posts by June 30 is a milestone in the plan to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq in August 2010 and pull out all U.S. soldiers by 2012.

More than six years after Saddam Hussein was ousted, and as the Obama administration looks increasingly towards the war in Afghanistan, the United States still has about 130,000 troops in Iraq.

We assure you of Iraqi forces readiness for the mission, despite some security violations, and we assure you that we are now more stable and steady

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki