BAGHDAD, March 12 (UPI) -- Another violent day in Iraq took the lives of at least 70 people, including 46 killed by bombs in Baghdad's major Shiite stronghold.
The explosions in Sadr City appeared to be coordinated, the Los Angeles Times reported. Bombs went off in two markets at sunset with rocket and mortar fire immediately afterwards, injuring at least 200 people.
Sadr City is Baghdad's largest Shiite enclave and a stronghold of the Shiite militia, the Mehdi Army. Armed militia members roamed the area after the explosions.
Twelve other people died in Baghdad during the day, some from shootings and others from bombs. Outside the capital, the bodies of eight men who had been tied up, blindfolded and shot execution style were found in a ditch in Rustimiya and three men were found dead in a car in Bayaa.
As the death toll continued to rise, Defense Minister Saadoun al-Duleimi, a Sunni, and the Shiite Interior Minister Bayan Jabr announced a new initiative in an attempt to restore peace. Under the plan, the police, dominated by the Shiites, and the army, mostly Kurds and Sunnis, will have joint patrols and make arrests jointly.
