BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 62 people were killed and 150 wounded Wednesday when a bomb ripped through an outdoor market area in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

The bombing occurred in Sadr City, the largely Shiite populous swath of eastern Baghdad that has been the scene of carnage during the Iraq war.

A motorcycle pushing a cart rigged with explosives and loaded with vegetables exploded in the Mredi market, the official said. Women and children were among the casualties, according to the official.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani condemned the attack and said the perpetrators of "this heinous crime" were trying to destabilize security six days before a looming deadline for the U.S. military to withdraw.

Under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that went into effect at the beginning of this year, all U.S. combat troops must pull out of Iraqi cities, towns and localities, and move into bases by the end of this month.