One dead as rocket hits Baghdad

A rocket hit a busy Baghdad area today killing at least one person and wounding eight, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The rocket exploded on a side street in Baghdad’s Karrada neighbourhood.

Ambulances raced to the scene and US troops cordoned off the area. The body of one victim lay in the street, covered by a sheet, an Associated Press reporter said.

The rocket also destroyed a car and shattered the windows of 10 shops. The explosion was one of a series of blasts that rocked the capital.

Small puffs of white smoke could be seen rising above the former presidential palace in the Green Zone, the headquarters of the US Embassy and the interim Iraqi government.

The US military had no immediate information on the attack.