Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other in north Baghdad yesterday, killing at least nine people and wounding 39.
The explosions, one a parked car bomb and another a roadside bomb, were targeting a passing Iraqi army patrol at a busy intersection during the morning rush hour as people headed to work, police First Lieutenant Mohammed Khayun said.
The car bomb had been parked in front of a tire repair shop, witness Abdel-Majeed Salah, a local resident, told reporters. He said a minibus with passengers on board had been behind the parked car when it detonated, and all on board had been killed.
PHOTO: EPA
Two of the dead and eight of the wounded were Iraqi soldiers, police said.
In northeastern Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a procession of pilgrims heading to the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 80km south of Baghdad, killing one and wounded two, police First Lieutenant Ali Abbas said.
Religious festival
Tens of thousands of people are expected in Karbala, 80km south of the capital, on Saturday to observe Shaaban, a mid-month religious celebration. Many of the pilgrims travel to the city on foot.
Over the past two weeks, hundreds of Iraqis have been killed by suicide bombings, shootings and mortar and rocket attacks in sectarian violence that has surged this year.
On Tuesday, Iraq's parliament resumed after its summer recess and voted to extend a state of emergency for a month. The measure, which has been in place for almost two years, covers every area except the autonomous Kur-dish region in the north and grants security forces the power to impose curfews and make arrests without warrants.
It has been renewed every month since first being authorized in November 2004, hours before US and Iraqi troops launched a big offensive to drive insurgents out of Fallujah, one of the main cities in the restive Anbar region west of Baghdad.
President Jalal Talabani expressed optimism on Tuesday that fighting would stop before the end of next year, and he said Iraqi forces will be able to handle any remaining violence.
"I don't think fighting will continue until then if the steps of national reconciliation go according to plan," he said after meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. "If some groups are still fighting, our forces will be able to take care of it."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's reconciliation plan seeks to bridge religious, ethnic and political divisions that have been tearing at Iraq with daily violence.
The plan includes an offer of amnesty to members of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency not involved in terrorist activities, calls for disarming primarily Shiite sectarian militias and promises compensation for families of Iraqis killed by US and government forces.
Asked by reporters when Britain's 7,000 soldiers might be able to leave Iraq, Talabani said ``by the end of 2007.''
``We've achieved good success in building our forces and equipping them with the necessary arms,'' he said, adding that ``once violence declines, we will not need the presence of multinational forces in Iraq.''
But Beckett cautioned that Talabani was ``not setting a deadline'' for troop withdrawal.
``That's the president's personal opinion,'' she said, adding that ``the circumstances will be the judge of everything.''
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