BAGHDAD — Two weeks after a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown was launched here, bombers struck popular gathering spots including an ice cream parlor and a kebab shop Tuesday, killing at least eight people.
Police in the capital also reported discovering the bodies of 31 men who had been shot, apparent victims of Shiite death squads. The U.S. military reported the deaths of five more American troops.
Rage and frustration in Baghdad over the continuing bloodshed was accompanied by a sense of confusion over reports of an afternoon incident in Ramadi, where officials said a bomb explosion at a soccer field killed 18 children ranging in age from about 6 to 12.
The reports, which could not be independently verified, led to angry statements by officials including Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who denounced the "crime against children in their innocent playgrounds" and blamed "criminal gangs."
Other reports, however, raised questions over whether anyone was killed in the Sunni-dominated city in Al Anbar province.
The U.S. military said it set off a controlled explosion in Ramadi in the afternoon that went awry, sending shrapnel and glass flying and injuring 31 people, including several children.
None of the injuries was life-threatening, said Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, a military spokeswoman.
"I know there are reports children were killed out there. Those are incorrect," Aberle said, adding that the military had no reports of any other blasts in Ramadi.
Whatever the case in Ramadi, attacks continue relentlessly across Iraq despite the launching Feb. 13 of the new security plan. The deadliest have struck civilian targets and bore the hallmark of Sunni insurgents.
In the last week, bombers have hit a college campus, a Sunni mosque whose imam had spoken out against the insurgency, and a government building where the Shiite vice president, Adel Abdul Mehdi, was due to speak.
The vice president escaped with minor injuries Monday, but the attacks, in addition to the slew of bombings Tuesday, have left some Iraqis despairing of the government's ability to provide adequate security.
Iraqi officials are portraying the bloodshed as a last gasp by militants trying to derail the plan, which aims to put thousands more troops on the streets of Baghdad and in neighboring Al Anbar.
