Baghdad, Iraq – Car bombs targeting Shiite areas devastated a bustling outdoor market and an auto dealership Tuesday, part of a relentless onslaught that killed more than 40 people and prompted the United States to deploy more troops to combat insurgents in western Iraq.
The bombs also injured more than 100 people, officials said. The death toll made Tuesday one of the bloodiest days in Iraq this month, and lawmakers still had not agreed on who should lead the nation’s army and police forces.
U.S. military commanders moved about 1,500 combat troops from a reserve force in Kuwait to volatile Anbar province to help authorities establish order in the insurgent hotbed stretching from Baghdad west to Syria.
The military command in Iraq described the new deployment as short term. The plan is to keep the newest troops in Anbar no longer than four months, said one military official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the move.
The worst bombing hit the outdoor market as Iraqis were doing their evening shopping in Husseiniyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. At least 25 people were killed and 65 were wounded, said Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Falah Al-Mohamedawi.
Hours earlier, a car packed with explosives blew up at a dealership in the largely Shiite city of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people and wounding 32, police Capt. Muthana Khalid said.
A bomb hidden in a plastic bag also detonated outside a bakery in a religiously mixed neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, killing at least nine people and injuring 10.
A day earlier, 40 people were killed in various attacks, including a car bombing in Baghdad that killed two CBS News crewmen and seriously wounded network correspondent Kimberly Dozier.
Dozier remained in intensive care Tuesday at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, CBS said on its evening newscast.
Dozier “had surgery twice yesterday on injuries to her legs and on her head to remove shrapnel from her skull,” said reporter Sheila MacVicar, who added that Dozier was able to wiggle her toes. “Tonight, she remains sedated and faces more surgery,” MacVicar said.
CBS executives said the injuries to Dozier’s head were not as serious as feared and that the immediate threat to her life was past. Her doctors say they are most concerned with saving one of her legs.
The military also said a roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier Tuesday southeast of Baghdad, while small-arms fire killed a GI on Monday in Mosul.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
