Nine killed in Baghdad bomb blast

Heavy explosions rattled the Iraqi capital Baghdad today, and one of the blasts, a roadside bomb, killed at least nine passers-by and injured six.

The deadly blast targeted an Iraqi army patrol in Amariyah, a mostly Sunni neighbourhood in west Baghdad, according to Interior Ministry Major Falah al-Mohammedawi.

At least four other large blasts were heard, but police only had reports on one, a roadside bomb that was aimed at a police patrol in Jihad, another mostly Sunni western neighbourhood. Three bystanders were hurt.