Bomb kills nine in Iraq

At least nine Iraqi civilians were killed in bombings across Baghdad early today, according to police.

About 7am, three people were killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting police patrols exploded near a minibus, according to a police official.

The incident took place in the Shiite-dominated neighbourhood of Baladiyat in eastern Baghdad, he said.

A half-hour later, in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Dora in southern Baghdad, a second roadside bomb targeting a US patrol missed its target and killed three Iraqi civilians and wounded three others, police said.

And in the downtown commercial neighbourhood of Salihiyah, a bomb planted in the back of the car parked near the Iranian embassy exploded about 8.30am, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding three others, according to police.