Several mortar bombs exploded on the southern edge of Baghdad today, killing at least nine people and injuring 43, police sources said.
The sources said casualties were expected to rise after the attack near the southern Baghdad district of Dora.
Dora, one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad, is often caught up in a Sunni Arab insurgency aimed at toppling the Shi'ite-led government as well as sectarian violence that has pushed the country close to civil war.
A mortar attack in the same area killed nine people and injured 17 yesterday, police sources said.