Triple car bombings kill 17 across Iraq

THREE car bombs rocked northern Baghdad yesterday morning within a span of half an hour while another struck a Shi’ite holy city, killing at least 17 and wounding 44.

Britain’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said up to five British personnel were killed in a military helicopter crash on Saturday that triggered unrest in the southern city of Basra. The ministry did not elaborate.

Iraqi authorities had said at least four British soldiers were killed and the chopper was brought down by a shoulder-fired missile — a weapon widely available among insurgent groups and armed militias in Iraq.