Rumsfeld in Iraq, attacks kill 21 Shias

A suicide car bomber has killed at least 13 Shias northeast of Baghdad and gunmen shot dead nine people in a Shia bakery in the capital in the latest sectarian attacks following the January 30 election.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on an unannounced visit to Iraq, warned on Friday it would take time for Iraqi security forces to crush the country’s bloody insurgency. He told US soldiers that the poll had been a good day for Iraq ‘‘but there are still challenges ahead’’.

Police said at least 13 people were killed and 40 wounded in the town of Balad Ruz when a suicide car bomb exploded as they were leaving a Shia religious ceremony linked to Ashura, one of the most holy events in the Shia calendar.