19 dead, dozens injured in Baghdad bomb blast (2nd Roundup)

Jun 26, 2009, 13:36 GMT

Baghdad- At least 19 people were killed and 47 injured Friday when a motorbike-mounted bomb exploded in central Baghdad, another in a series of deadly explosions to rip through the Iraqi capital in the past few days.

Sources told the German Press Agency dpa, that the explosives went off in a market that sells motorbikes in the Bab al-Sheikh area.

The attack left many casualties. Dozens of motorbike shoppers and traders were in the area, witnesses told dpa.

The attack comes a few days before the scheduled US withdrawal from Iraq's cities. Attacks have become more common in Baghdad in the buildup to that event.

On Thursday, nine people, including four civilians, were killed in two bombings in Iraq

On Wendnesday a devastating bomb attack at a market in Sadr City killed 74 and injured hundreds.

In the western Iraqi city of Fallujah, five Iraqi soldiers were killed, also on Thursday, when an explosive device blew up while they were on patrol, security sources said.

Nine further soldiers were wounded in that attack.

Meanwhile, Iraqi and US officials insisted the upsurge of violence ahead of the US withdrawal is not unexpected.

Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki said this week that his government expects more attacks in the coming days. Al-Maliki, who described the withdrawal of US troops as 'great victory' however underlined the capability of the Iraqi security forces to protect the Iraqi people, the BBC reported.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell on Wednesday told reporters that violence in Iraq had typically spiked ahead of key dates such as elections and predicted the same for the June 30 pullout.

'Our forces have been alerted to the possibility that we will likely see an uptick in violence leading up to the June 30 deadline for US combat forces to leave Iraqi cities and towns,' Morrell said.