Most of those killed in the morning attack in Mahmoudiya were civilians, including three women and two children, reported the Associated Press. About 35 others, including two U.S. troops, were injured.
Among those killed was the young son of 30-year-old Hoda Ali Mahmoud, who had taken her son to the hospital for treatment for a cold.
"The glass flew at us," she said, sobbing, according to Reuters. "His nose was hit and he couldn't breathe."
Another car bomb exploded Thursday evening near a crowded soft drink stand in the Shiite city of Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, according to the AP. At least two people were killed.
Elsewhere, two American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad, according to a military statement, bringing to six the number of U.S. troops killed in the last two days.
Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba told reporters that insurgent attacks are expected to rise before the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. He said "Muslim extremists and Saddam's criminals" will be making their last stand, the AP reported.
The United States hopes a large Sunni turnout next month will produce a broad-based government that can win the minority Sunnis' trust, help curb the insurgency, and allow U.S. and other troops to return home.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested earlier in the week that a troop reduction may start fairly soon.
On Thursday, most of the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq got a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey and other dishes at their bases. In Baghdad, troops were visited by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who called their service "a huge sacrifice, but a sacrifice for a good cause," reported the AP.
-- Compiled from wire reports and other media sources
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November 24, 2005, 5pm EST
