Terror group sets off three bombs in Baghdad

Militants exploded three bombs today in the Iraqi capital, killing at least one civilian and wounding eight others, officials said of the latest in a string of deadly attacks across Baghdad.

One car bomb exploded near a US convoy in the western Mansour district, witnesses said.

At least five civilians were injured in the blast, said Ihssan Abdul Razaq, an official at the Yarmouk Hospital where rescue workers brought the wounded. The US military said one soldier was also hurt.

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility, the latest in a string of attacks the terror group has said it carried out this week against US targets.

Yesterday, the group said it carried out twin car bombs that killed 18 people and wounded more than 30 others in Baghdad, the highest death toll from an explosion in Iraq in more than a month. On March 10, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral, killing 47 people.

In a statement posted on the Islamic Ansar website, the group described today’s car bomb, saying: “One of God’s lions from the martyrdom seekers’ brigade took off this morning and rammed his car into a convoy of Americans.”

Another jerry-rigged device exploded in an eastern neighbourhood where US forces were on patrol, killing one civilian and wounding three others, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

A third blast didn’t appear to cause any injuries, said Cap. Talib Thamir.

Pakistan has today urged kidnappers in Iraq to release a Pakistani Embassy official who disappeared on Saturday after leaving his Baghdad home for prayers. Hours earlier, Al-Jazeera satellite television aired a video that showed the man, an official at the Pakistani Embassy said.

The broadcaster did not air audio of the tape, but said the man identified himself as Malik Mohammed Javed.

“We again appeal to Javed’s kidnappers to free him in the name of Islam,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Amhed said today.

“We appeal to them not to harm him because his aged parents and other family members have already suffered a lot.”

A fight broke out among prisoners at the US’ largest detention centre in Iraq, leaving one detainee dead and a dozen injured, the military said today.

The military said it had launched an investigation into the melee, which was sparked late last night at Camp Bucca in south-eastern Iraq. The facility houses 6,000 detainees, or nearly two-thirds of all those in Iraq.

In Basra, Baghdad’s second-largest city, the family of Abass Ali Ketaan accused the Iraqi police of beating and torturing Ketaan while he was in their custody. Ketaan was arrested three days ago on suspicion of having ties to kidnappings and killings in the region, police said.

He was taken to a hospital last night, where he died, and photos of his body showed he was covered in bruises and cuts. Iraqi police said he died of natural causes, and hospital officials refused to comment.

A US Marine died on Wednesday when an insurgent mortar round landed inside a military base in western Iraq, the military said today.

No other details were released. The marine’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.