BAGHDAD, Iraq - A series of bomb blasts Tuesday in Baghdad killed at least 20
people and injured 58, while armed robbers shot dead three people during a raid
on a bank, police said.
Two roadside bombs exploded in the main Shurja market in central Baghdad
within minutes of each other, killing 10 civilians and injuring 50, said police
Lt. Mohammed Kheyoun.
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A US soldier stands
guard next to US military Stryker vehicles convoy on a main highway, in
Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. Iraq's prime minister sharply
criticized a US-Iraqi attack on a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad,
exposing a rift with his American partners on security tactics, as 24
people were killed Tuesday in a series of bombings and shooting.
[AP]
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Three bombs exploded earlier near the Interior Ministry building in central
Baghdad, killing 10 people and injuring eight, police Lt. Bilal Ali Majid said.
Both locations are in central Baghdad, which has been the focus of growing
sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis that many fear could push the
country into a civil war.
Also Tuesday, gunmen in two cars stormed a bank in Azamiyah district of
Baghdad and killed three people - two guards and one civilian. The gunmen
drove away with an unknown amount of money, said police Sergeant Zakariya
Hassan. Two civilians were also injured in the attack, he said.
Meanwhile Monday, Iraq's prime minister sharply criticized a US-Iraqi attack
on a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad, breaking with his American partners
on security tactics as the United States launches a major operation to secure
the capital.
More than 30 people were killed or found dead Monday, including 10
paramilitary commandos slain when a suicide driver detonated a truck at the
regional headquarters of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry police in a mostly
Sunni city north of Baghdad.
On Tuesday, two bombs exploded near the Interior Ministry building in central
Baghdad on Tuesday. The first one caused no injures. The second one exploded
minutes later as people and police rushed to the scene, killing nine civilians
and injuring six, police said.
The military also said early Tuesday that an American soldier died Sunday of
wounds suffered in western Anbar province. No further details were released,
including when the fighting occurred.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's criticism followed a pre-dawn air and ground
attack on an area of Sadr City, stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.
