Updated on
Summary
A late night car bomb that tore through a cafe in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood killing nine people appears to have detonated prematurely, also blowing up three suspected militants in the vehicle, police said Thursday.The microbus loaded with explosives appeared to be the latest attempt by militants to stoke a sectarian conflict by striking at a Shiite neighborhood with strong ties to militias.Police had initially said it was a parked car bomb, but subsequent reports revealed the minibus was moving when it exploded and three bodies were found inside, suggesting they were headed to another target inside the densely populated district of at least 2 million.Police and hospital officials from the nearby al-Sadr and Imam Ali hospitals gave the death toll and details on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.The morning after the blast, little was left of the minibus except for a scorch mark on the spot where it exploded and a few shattered bits of the vehicle after police hauled most of it away for inspection and young boys scavenged the rest to sell as scrap in the impoverished neighborhood.The blast also destroyed a large street sign bearing the images of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his revered father, for whom the neighborhood is named.Not far away, weeping families loaded coffins on top of minibuses for the three-hour drive down to the holy city of Najaf where most of Iraq's Shiites prefer to be buried.Sadr City is a stronghold of al-Sadr and the scene of blasts in April that killed 72 people. Following those attacks, al-Sadr offered Iraq's security forces the aid of his militia and there have been reports it is being revived.
