Hundreds of angry Iraqis gathered on Thursday around the wreckage of a market bombing in Baghdad where 72 people died, demanding better protection from the government after US troops pull back to bases. A string of blasts has cast doubt on Iraqi forces' ability to keep the lid on a stubborn insurgency as US combat troops withdraw from towns and cities by June 30. More explosions on Thursday killed five policemen and at least two civilians. Residents at the site of Wednesday's bombing in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City slum sobbed and hugged each other, and many furiously cursed the authorities. The blast came four days after U.S. soldiers handed control of the area to Iraqi forces. “I expect more explosions,” Mustafa Hussain, a 33-year-old grocer, told Reuters at the scene, where pieces of flesh, shreds of bloodied clothing and shoes still littered the area. “Iraqi forces don't have enough experience and they don't check vehicles well at their checkpoints ... they must prove their abilities to the people.” Jawad Kadhim, 40, a Sadr City taxi driver, said the attack was aimed at stoking sectarian hatred. Elsewhere on Thursday, police in the once turbulent but recently secure western city of Falluja said a roadside bomb destroyed a police vehicle and killed all five policemen inside. Hours later, at least two people died and 30 others were wounded when another bomb struck a crowded bus terminal in the south of the capital, a hospital source said. In eastern Baghdad, the US military said nine US soldiers were wounded when two roadside bombs hit their patrol. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki in a statement urged the world to denounce the bloodshed. “Keeping silent is no longer an acceptable stance.”
