Bombers Defy Security Push, Killing at Least 158 in Baghdad

"How can I stand living a normal life and seeing a person who just lost his head in front of me?" Ali said, his voice filled with outrage. "Why are they targeting the innocent people? What is their guilt to die?"

As he spoke, another man ran by, screaming, "Curse Islam! What kind of Muslims kill their own brothers?"

The U.S. military has fortified many Baghdad markets, including Sadriya, with blast walls and barriers to protect against the devastating car bombs that have long plagued busy bazaars. The attacker in Sadriya detonated the bomb about 50 feet from the walled-off market. Garver said it "may have been worse" had the bomber struck inside the market. A U.S. military statement put the death toll at 115.

In a statement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, called on Iraqis to denounce the "barbarian, savage attacks," which he blamed on "taqfiris," or extremist conservative Muslims. He ordered the arrest of the Iraqi army commander in charge of the Sadriya area and called for an investigation into security measures there.

Shortly before the bombings, the prime minister pledged to have Iraqi troops assume full security control of the nation's 18 provinces this year, news services reported. In a speech delivered on Maliki's behalf as the Iraqi military took control of the southern province of Maysan, national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said the transfers would take place "province by province before the end of the year." But the violence underscored the profound insecurity that the fledgling Iraqi military -- which remains dependent on U.S. support -- would inherit.

About one hour before the Sadriya market blast, a car bomb killed 30 people in the vast Shiite enclave of Sadr City, a stronghold of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, police said; the U.S. military said 10 died. The militia has generally been lying low during the security plan, and Sadr spokesman Abdul Razaq al-Nadawi said fighters would continue to hold back until its leader commands them to fight.

But he accused U.S. and Iraqi forces of failing to protect Shiites.

"The Iraqi government is incapable of establishing security as long as occupation forces are still present," said Nadawi, speaking from Najaf.

"We are pessimistic and afraid of the coming days, because Iraqis are getting fed up. And when nations are provoked, governments cannot stop them," Nadawi added.

Earlier Wednesday, a car bomb exploded in the Baghdad commercial district of Karrada, killing 10 people and damaging several shops, police said. The U.S. military said five people died.

In the southern Shiite city of Basra, demonstrators continued to call for the governor to step down, in a third day of protests that revealed increasing tensions between Shiite factions in the oil-rich port city. Some residents said Maliki visited Basra today to try to calm the situation, but that could not be independently confirmed.

One U.S. soldier died of noncombat injuries in Baghdad on Tuesday and a Marine in Anbar province died Monday in a "non-hostile incident during combat," the military said.

In Baghdad, the Sadriya victims were taken to Kindi Hospital. Its director, Adil Awad, said the hospital received 115 corpses and 126 wounded victims before running out of space.

"We have a disaster now in the hospital," Awad said in a brief telephone interview. Shrieking women could be heard in the background as he spoke.

At the site of the bombing, Ali, the shopkeeper, expressed his frustration. "Saddam's time was much better than the new government," he said. "At least he was providing us security and stability, and he did not make us worry about our children and our lives."

Staff writers Thomas E. Ricks in Washington and Ann Scott Tyson in Tel Aviv and special correspondents Salih Dehema, Naseer Mehdawi, Naseer Nouri and Waleed Saffar in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.