The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

A car bomb killed at least seven children and 11 other people in a northern city, providing a reminder that militants still can cause casualties despite security improvements that led U.S. troops to return a southern province to Iraqi control Wednesday.

Ninety people also were injured in the blast at a popular outdoor market in Tal Afar, said a police official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The city, a one-time stronghold of Sunni insurgents 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, was targeted in offensives by U.S. and Iraqi troops that prompted American leaders to describe it as a success story in the effort to stabilize Iraq. But sporadic attacks continue.

Also in the north, a car bomb killed two civilians in Mosul, police reported. The two attacks came a day after suicide bombers killed at least 28 people in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad.

South of Baghdad, the formal transfer in the Qadisiyah province reflected a drop in violence and instability across Iraq and marked another success for Iraq's increasingly assertive government, which seeks a timeline from the United States for the withdrawal of American forces. Qadisiyah, a mostly Shiite region, was the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces to return to Iraqi authority, with U.S. and Polish troops relinquishing control at a military ceremony.

"This is further evidence of our goal to have security control in the whole of Iraq by the end of 2008," said Mouwafak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser. In a statement, U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said Iraqi security forces in Qadisiyah had been operating "independently" the last two months.

"We will assist as requested," the statement said, adding that Iraqi provincial and military leadership would have to create long-term security that can lead to economic development.

In Washington, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said he expected to be able to recommend further American troop reductions in Iraq later this year if security continues to improve.