17 Iraqis killed in car bombings

BAGHDAD (AP) — Car bombs killed 17 people Wednesday in Baghdad — most of them at a wholesale produce market — fueling concern about Iraqi capabilities less than two months before Iraq’s army and police assume full responsibility for security in the country’s cities.

An Iraqi military official blamed the latest bloodshed in part on ex-detainees released by U.S. forces who had returned to violence.

Some analysts have speculated that Sunni insurgent groups have regrouped after sharp setbacks suffered in fighting with U.S. and Iraqi forces over the last two years.

Last month, at least 451 people were killed in political violence nationwide, compared with 335 in March, 288 in February and 242 in January, according to an Associated Press tally.

Although those death tolls are far lower than figures of 2006 and 2007, the trend is disturbing.

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