Car bomb kills six, wounds 36 in Iraq's Kerbala

KERBALA, Iraq, Dec 9 (Reuters) At least six people were killed and 36 wounded when a car bomb exploded today in a busy market in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, hospital sources said.

Police said eight were killed. Television footage showed dozens of burned cars, people shouting and some trying to help those wounded.

Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, is usually under heavy security since March 2004, when coordinated suicide bombings killed more than 90 people during an annual religious festival in the city.

The bombing today is the first there since a suicide bomber blew himself up in January killing 53.

Sectarian tension is mounting in Iraq between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs who were once dominant under Saddam Hussein. Some Sunni militants oppose the political process and have launched attacks against US troops and the Shi'ite-led government.

REUTERS AB VV1441