Two killed in bomb attack

A roadside bomb detonated near a Baghdad hospital today, injuring a senior Iraqi Finance Ministry official and killing two of his guards, police said.

Ehsan Karim, the head of the ministry’s audit board, suffered slight injuries in the bombing at around 8am in central Baghdad, said Colonel Adnan Hussein, head of the Interior Ministry’s information office.

Karim’s guard and driver were killed in the explosion near Yarmouk Hospital. Four bystanders were also injured.

Firefighters responding to the area shot into the air to disperse crowds, initial US military reports said.