37 die in attack on US convoy

Multiple explosions rocked a Baghdad district as a US military convoy was passing today, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 50.

Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman said two car bombs and a roadside bomb exploded in swift succession as the convoy was passing in the al-Amel neighbourhood,.

Yarmouk Hospital received 37 bodies and more than 50 wounded in the attack, said Dr. Nibras Hamdan.

Witness Samir Abul-Karim said the attack happened during a ceremony marking the opening of a new sewage system in the neighbourhood.

A US helicopter evacuated some of the wounded while others circled overhead.

Earlier, a car bomb blew up in front of a government complex west of the capital, killing at least one US soldier, two Iraqi policemen and wounding more than 60 people, Iraqi and coalition officials said.

The bomber targeted a compound in the Abu Ghraib area housing the mayor’s office, a police station and other buildings.

“This despicable act killed not only a Multi-National Force soldier, but Iraqis who were merely going about their business of defending this country,” said Lt. Col. Jim Hutton, spokesman for the US 1st Cavalry.