AT least nine people were killed as masked gunmen swooped on jewellers in the Iraqi capital in a brazen morning rampage yesterday, bombing five stores after robbing them.

A SERIES of blasts in Baghdad yesterday killed 95 people and wounded 536 in Iraq’s bloodiest day this year, renewing doubt over Iraqi forces’ ability to maintain security after US troops pulled out of urban areas.

A car bomb exploded today in a commercial street of south-western Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding nine others, police said.