Bomb at Baghdad Market Kills 31 People

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A bomb targeting poor Iraqi Shiites lining up for day jobs in Baghdad's Sadr City slum killed at least 31 people Monday and wounded more than 50 others, police said.

The bomb tore through a collection of food stalls and kiosks at about 6:15 a.m., cutting down men who gather there daily hoping to be hired as laborers. Police Maj. Hashim al-Yasiri put the casualty figure at 31 killed and 51 injured.

There were conflicting reports as to whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or a device concealed amid debris by the roadside. The overwhelmingly Shiite area is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia blamed for much of the sectarian violence rocking the city.

Sadr City, a sprawling neighborhood of 2.5 million people, has been the scene of repeated bomb attacks by suspected al-Qaida fighters seeking to incite Shiite revenge attacks and drag the country into full-blown civil war.

The U.S. and Iraqi military have kept a tight cordon around Sadr City since a raid there last week in search of an alleged Shiite death squad leader, who was not found.