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Series of roadside blasts kills 11 in Baghdad

A series of roadside bombs exploded early yesterday in separate areas of east Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding more than a dozen, police said. The US military reported three more US soldiers had died in action in the Iraqi capital.

The first blast occurred about 7:30am near the Dhubat neighborhood, killing four civilians and wounding seven, police said.

Two more blasts occurred two minutes apart in another area of eastern Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding seven, police said. The dead included two traffic policemen and five civilians.

The three US soldiers were killed on Tuesday in separate bombings in the capital, the US command said.

Two were killed in west Baghdad and another died in an east Baghdad bombing, the military said. Four other US soldiers were wounded in the east Baghdad blast, the command said. Two insurgents responsible for the attack were identified, engaged and killed, the statement said.

Meanwhile, dozens of Baghdad residents joined a protest yesterday in Firdous Square in central Baghdad to demand the government improve security and public services.

The demonstrators held Iraqi flags and banners, urging authorities to "stop mocking us" and to make its only goal "the protection of Iraqis."

"Our demands are not big ones. We need security, electricity and water," Sheik Nihad al-Sharqawi said. "The government has to ensure happiness and prosperity to every Iraqi citizen. Otherwise, it should step down."

The US military has stepped up the pace of operations in recent weeks, hoping to drive Sunni and Shiite extremists from sanctuaries in and around Baghdad as they scramble to train enough Iraqi security forces to prevent the gunmen from regrouping.

On Tuesday, US soldiers, backed by tanks, helicopters and at least one F-16 fighter aircraft rolled into the eastern part of Baqubah, the capital of Diyala Province, to drive al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents from the city.

Gunfire could be heard on Tuesday in the main market district, and Sunni imams in four mosques used loudspeakers to call on their followers to fight the Americans, residents said by telephone. They spoke on condition of anonymity over fears for their safety.

US and Iraqi forces seized the western part of Baqubah last month and had been expected to mount a major offensive to drive al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents from the rest of the city.

The Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaeda in Iraq, has declared Baqubah its capital.

Sunni extremists were believed to be moving out of Baqubah in anticipation of a US attack, seeking shelter with friendly tribes to the north and east.

Elsewhere in Diyala, police Colonel Ragheb Radhi al-Omairi said 29 members of a Shiite tribe were massacred late on Monday when dozens of suspected Sunni gunmen raided their village near Muqdadiyah, about 30km northeast of Baqubah.

The dead included four women, al-Omairi said.
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