Nine killed in Baghdad bomb blast

At least nine people were killed and 71 wounded in Iraq today when a series of bomb blasts went off in rapid succession in a Baghdad shopping district.

A car bomb and two roadside bombs blew up within 10 minutes just before noon local time in a shopping district of the Camp Sara neighbourhood which is predominantly Christian, said 1st Lt. Ali Abbas.

The blasts left nine dead and injured 71, including shoppers and 15 policemen, destroyed cars and collapsed part of a nearby building, he said.

In an earlier attack in the area, two policemen were killed and two others injured when their car was hit by a roadside bomb, Abbas said.

The US military announced the death of a soldier in the north – the latest in what has been one of the bloodiest stretches of days for American troops this year.

In Baqouba, north-east of Baghdad, gunmen attacked a police patrol, killing two policemen and injuring five people, Diyala province police said.