Female suicide bomber kills three in Iraq

A female suicide bomber blew herself up in a predominantly Shiite area in central Baghdad today, killing at least three people and wounding 10, police said.

Police in the Masbah commercial area suspected the woman, who was in a black Islamic robe, and asked her to stop but she fled to a nearby building, said an officer.

The attack was one of two bombings in Iraq this morning.

In the northern city of Mosul, a bomb in a parked car detonated, killing a police officer and two civilians, police said.

The policeman was examining the car, which was parked in the eastern section of Mosul, 225 miles north of Baghdad, when it was exploded remotely, a police officer said.

Two civilians were also injured in the explosion, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information.

Mosul is the last major urban stronghold of insurgent forces and a focus of the US and Iraqi military efforts.