Bloodshed in Tal Afar

Truck bombs in Tal Afar on Tuesday killed 80 people and wounded 185.

...one of the trucks exploded after the driver lured people in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood to the site by telling them he was distributing free flour from a humanitarian organization. The bombing caused surrounding buildings to collapse, leaving huge piles of concrete and bricks dusted with white four.

Videotaped footage from the scene was broadcast Wednesday night showing a man dead in the front seat of his car. Men and women carried the limp bodies of children powdered with flour. Others dug through the rubble with their bare hands in a search for survivors.

Reports of reprisal killings soon followed:

Iraqi Shiite Muslim gunmen carried out reprisals in Tal Afar after coordinated car and truck bombings killed 75 people and wounded 185 at two markets in the northern city.

The gunmen responded to yesterday's blasts by attacking a Sunni Muslim neighborhood overnight, state television said. Off- duty Shiite policemen killed 45 people with execution-style shots to the back of the head, the Associated Press said, citing police and hospital officials.

Iraqi troops entered Sunni areas and a curfew was imposed, AP said, while Tal Afar police were confined to bases and were being replaced with officers from Mosul.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office ordered an investigation and the U.S. command offered to provide assistance.

Ali al-Talafari, a Sunni member of the local Turkomen Front party, said the Iraqi army had arrested 18 policemen accused in the shooting rampage after they were identified by Sunni families. Shiite militiamen also took part, he said.

Given the focus of operations in Baghdad and Anbar, the obvious key question is can the Iraqi government and it's allies respond elsewhere? The early answer is "yes".

But that answer might not matter - as this is probably a major reason for the increase in suicide bombings.