Civilian vehicles hit by car bomb

A CAR bomb hit a civilian convoy belonging to US-led coalition forces yesterday on the main highway to Baghdad’s airport, the Interior Ministry said.

Two sport utility vehicles were caught in the explosion as the convoy travelled through the western Amiriyah district, spokesman Col Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.

Earlier, a police officer at the scene said he believed the vehicles were hit by rocket-propelled grenades rather than a car bomb. One vehicle was overturned by the blast while the other burst into flames.

The number of casualties was not immediately known. Police and US troops blocked off the site of the explosion.

Witnesses reported seeing two dead Westerners lying on the ground while three victims were airlifted away.

Westerners and contractors travelling in sports-utility vehicles are frequently targeted by insurgents.

Militants also blew up a Catholic church in southern Baghdad, setting it ablaze.

A huge explosion at the church in the southern Doura neighbourhood left about 20 people injured.

Eyewitness Mohammed Aziz said that strong explosions rocked the area.

Police fired bullets in the air to disperse the crowd, said another witness.