47 killed in Baghdad blasts

Car bombs and a rocket barrage struck a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad tonight, killing at least 47 people and wounding at least 148.

The attack in the Zafraniyah neighbourhood of southern Baghdad began with two car bombs and a barrage of an estimated nine rockets, according to Colonel Saddoun Abu al-Ula, spokesman for the Defence Ministry.

He said the barrage heavily damaged three buildings, including a multi-storey apartment block that collapsed. Al-Ula said the rockets appeared to have been fired from Dora, one of the mostly Sunni districts targeted by US troops in a new security crackdown against sectarian violence in the capital.

Police Lieutenant Thaer Mahmoud said 47 people were killed and 148 were wounded.

On July 27, a complex attack of mortars, rockets and car bombs killed at least 31 people in another mostly Shiite district, Karradah. These rockets and mortars were also believed fired from Dora.