Car bombs in Baghdad killed at least eight people and wounded dozens more today, the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.
Police said a car bomb near a police station killed at least five people and wounded 17 others in central Baghdad. Another car bomb in the Karrada district of the capital killed three people and wounded seven, while a bomb in a mini bus wounded four people in the east of the city.
Police also said they found bodies of 30 people in different districts of Baghdad. It is believed they were killed yesterday.
Smoke rises from a car bomb explosion in Baghdad in which at least three people were killed and seven injured. Photograph: Getty Images
The Defence Ministry said Iraqi soldiers killed three insurgents and arrested 101 others during the last 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, while US-led forces killed three suspected insurgents during a raid in the Hurriya district of northwest Baghdad.
US forces also detained nine suspected insurgents during raids in Mosul and Baghdad targeting the al-Qaeda network in Iraq, the US military said. One of the detainees reportedly procures chemicals for the production of bombs, it said.
Iraqi and US troops are engaged in a major security crackdown in Baghdad since mid-February and is seen by many as a last chance to stem sectarian violence that threatens to pitch Iraq into civil war.
US commanders have said the plan has already halved the number of civilian deaths, largely through a sharp reduction in death squad killings blamed on militias.
But car bombs and other insurgent attacks blamed on al-Qaeda and other militants have not eased.
Marking the fourth anniversary of the US invasion yesterday, US President George W. Bush said the Baghdad plan would take months, not weeks, to achieve success.