BAGHDAD, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- At least 130 people were killed and more than 300 injured Saturday in a bombing of a crowded market in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad.
The explosion was one of the deadliest in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, The New York Times reported. Police said a suicide bomber set off 2,000 pounds of explosives, resulting in a blast that ripped through stores and apartments.
There were violent incidents around the country, including nine bombings in Kirkuk. One bomb went off at the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, CNN reported.
In Samarra, four police officers died when an estimated 20 insurgents opened fire on a checkpoint.
Police responded with localized curfews and bans on vehicles in some urban areas.
In Baghdad, Sunni militia fighters showed up in the marketplace immediately after the bombing and questioned people they thought did not belong, the Times reported. The U.S. military stationed troops and armored vehicles on some roads leading in to Sunni neighborhoods.
