BAGHDAD — A car bomb ripped through a crowded commercial district in a mainly Shiite town on Friday, killing at least 32 people, Iraqi officials said _ the latest attack north of Baghdad where violence has been slower to decline than elsewhere in the country. The explosion in Dujail, which wounded 43 others, was apparently targeting a police station but instead badly damaged a nearby medical clinic, according to police. Concrete barriers largely protected the police station, the officials said. The blast took place about 50 yards from the police station in an area packed with shoppers preparing for Iftar, the daily meal at which Muslims break their sunrise-to-sunset fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Kamil al-Khazraji, the 33-year-old owner of a clothing store, said he was preparing to close when he heard the explosion. "The ground under me was shaking. I went outside the shop only to see fire and dust all over the place," he said. "The area looked like a battlefield, with wounded people crying for help and scattered dead bodies." Two police officers and a hospital official gave the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. One of the officers said four policemen were among the 32 dead. The U.S. military confirmed a car bomb exploded about 6:20 p.m. in Dujail, but said 23 Iraqis were killed and 40 others were wounded. Conflicting tolls from explosions in Iraq are commo ...
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