JOHN YDSTIE, Host:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm John Ydstie.
RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
And I'm Renee Montagne. A car bomb exploded today in a crowded market in the southern Iraqi city of Kufa. Thirty-nine people were killed and scores were injured or wounded.
According to witnesses, the blast occurred near a Shiite shrine as laborers were boarding a mini bus.
Police who arrived on the scene were pelted with rocks by the angry crowd and had to fire into the air to disperse them.
This is the second bloody attack in Kufa in recent weeks. The city is located 100 miles south of Baghdad, near the holy Shiite city of Najaf.
Earlier this month, a suicide car bomber attacked two coach loads of Iranian pilgrims killing ten people and wounding others.
YDSTIE: Crowded markets have become a favorite target of insurgents.
Yesterday, 50 people, mostly Shiites, were killed after gunmen opened fire at a market near Baghdad. The attack drew an angry protest from Shiite lawmakers who stormed out of a parliament session. They accused Iraqi forces of standing by during the rampage. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
