BAGHDAD — A truck bomb exploded as worshippers left a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing 72 people and wounding nearly 200 in the deadliest bombing this year.
The blast near Kirkuk — a city rife with ethnic tensions — came hours after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned Iraqis to expect more violence as U.S. troops withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of this month, but he insisted the deadline will be met "no matter what happens.”
But continued assassinations and high-profile explosions have heightened concerns that Iraqi forces are not ready to take over their own security.
Worshippers were leaving the mosque in Taza, south of Kirkuk, after noon prayers when the truck exploded, police and witnesses said.
Rescue teams searched into the night to find people buried under the rubble while women begged police to let them near the site so they could search for loved ones. The U.S. military said it was providing generator lights and water at the site.
Al-Maliki urged Iraqis to maintain support for the government, calling the first phase of the U.S. withdrawal plans a victory.
"Don’t worry if some security breach occurs here or there,” he said earlier Saturday in Baghdad. "They are trying to destabilize the situation, but we will confront them.”
by the associated press
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