A car bomb exploded in a crowded market in this northern city Thursday and caused Iraqi casualties, the police and U.S. military said. Iraqi policeman Hassan Ahmed said preliminary reports suggested the blast caused scores of casualties in an eastern Mosul fruit and vegetable market. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Hastings confirmed that a car bomb exploded at 11:35 a.m. (0835GMT), injuring only two Iraqi civilians. "There was a car bomb and there were two Iraqi civilians wounded and Iraqi ambulances responded and took them to hospital," Hastings said. Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, has been the scene of regular attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces by insurgents aimed at derailing the country's reconstruction.
