Car bombs explode in Iraq

Two car bombs have exploded in Iraq today, with at least five people killed, including a US soldier.

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb during rush hour outside a US base in Baqouba, Iraq, today, killing at least four Iraqis and one American soldier, the US military and police said.

Sixteen Iraqis and three American soldiers were wounded.

Ambulances, Humvees and Iraqi police rushed to evacuate the injured at the al-Faris base, 50 kilometres north of Baghdad.

US soldiers cleared the area at the former Iraqi air force facility now used by the US army’s 1st Infantry Division.

One 1st Infantry Division soldier was killed and three were wounded, Major Neal E O’Brien said.

“At rush hour, a suicide bomber blew up his Mitsubishi,” said Iraqi police Second Lieutenant Ali Hussein. “The blast led to huge damage.”

The blast took place as hundreds of Iraqis who work at the base stood in line awaiting security checks, said one of the injured, Ahmed Abdul-Latif.

The explosion occurred 10 metres away from the main gate, Hussein said. There were 12 injured and four dead, he said.

The bomb was the latest in a series of attacks on US forces and their allies in the days leading up to the handover of sovereignty in Iraq on June 30.

A car bomb exploded on Sunday near the gate of another a US-run base north of Baghdad, killing nine people and injuring 30 others – including two American soldiers, the US military said.

Meanwhile reports say a car bomb also exploded near a school in the northern city of Mosul, witnesses said. The number of casualties was uncertain.

The blast took place across the street from the mayor’s office, hurling body parts.