Seven killed in suicide bomb attack

A suicide car bomber killed seven people at a checkpoint at Baghdad’s Green Zone early today, the second attack in two days at the district that houses Iraq’s interim government and foreign embassies, officials said.

At least 13 people were injured in the blast, said Dr Hassan Abdel Satar from Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital.

Yesterday, a suicide bomber killed 13 and injured 15 people near the Harthiyah gate on the western edge of zone.

Police Lieutenant Rafid Abid confirmed that today’s attack was also carried out by a suicide bomber.

A mushroom-shaped cloud of black smoke rose from where the blast occurred, and guardsmen and policemen immediately blocked off the site. A policeman said the car bomb had detonated near the site of yesterday’s blast.

The US Embassy and several other missions are located in the zone, which consists of former dictator Saddam Hussein’s palace and other administrative buildings.

The US military confirmed that a “vehicle-borne improvised explosive device” had exploded near the checkpoint, and said there were no American casualties.

Located in central Baghdad, the Green Zone occupies an area of four square miles on the west bank of the Tigris river.

It is a virtual fortress encircled by miles of 12-foot-high barricades, its gates guarded by US Bradley fighting vehicles. The complex is off-limits to the public.