A STRING of bombings killed nine people and wounded at least 33 others in Iraq yesterday, including a senior oil ministry official, authorities said.

Heavily-armed attackers rampaged through an open air market today in a tense, religiously mixed community south of Baghdad, killing 15 people and wounding 25.

Iraq’s oil production has reached an average of 2.5 million barrels per day, its highest level since the US-led invasion, a spokesman said today.

A British soldier was killed and others were injured when a British military convoy came under attack in southern Iraq.