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121 Killed in Market Bombing in Baghdad

121 people were killed Saturday in a truck bombing in a busy market in Baghdad, the local police reported. The report indicated that 226 people were injured at the blast. The explosion took place as a truck bomb entered a Shiite market that had already suffered several bombings in the past. The heavy black cloud of smoke was visible from afar.

Before the bombing took place, another 10 people were killed in a string of terror attacks, six Iraqi police officers were killed when insurgents attacked a police outpost in a city North of Baghdad. Another four people were killed and 37 people were injured when a car bomb exploded in Northern Iraq. In Mosul, Iraq`s third largest city, a curfew was imposed in order to curb the violence between the opposing factions in the city. Police officers were spread out on the city streets yet still the fighting continued, a car bomb hit an ambulance and 6 mortar shells were shot at a local broadcasting station. In the past few days US intelligence has released a report, which stated that what is happening in Iraq could be defined as a civil war. Having said this, these officials claim that in order to stabilize the situation a one-and-a-half-year operation is needed.

The Shiite leadership has called out to Iraqis to cease fighting, Iraq`s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said: "The Islamic nation is passing through difficult conditions and facing tremendous challenges that threaten its future," but the bloodshed continues relentlessly, taking the life of many Iraqis and coalition soldiers.