At least 10 killed in Baghdad blasts-police

At least 10 killed in Baghdad blasts-police

10 Oct 2011 20:08
Source: Reuters // Reuters

(adds comment from police, details)

BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (Reuters) - At least ten people were killed and 18 were wounded on Monday when three successive blasts exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.

A first blast went off underneath a car in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite Washash neighborhood followed by a second blast as emergency officials were trying to help wounded and then a third blast detonated nearby, police said.

"We were stationed nearby when we heard a blast. When we turned around we saw the light from the blast and we took our cars over to help the wounded," local police officer Yahya Qasim said at the site.

"A second blast went off less than 100 meters away. We were in total confusion, but we tried to evacuate the wounded."

Hospital sources and local police said at least 10 people were killed and another 18 were wounded.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but Sunni Islamist insurgents and Shi'ite militias still carry out daily attacks just as the last U.S. troops prepare to withdraw at year-end.

More than eight years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is in discussions over whether some U.S. troops should stay on as trainers. But the question of legal immunity for U.S. troops in Iraq is a key sticking point. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Maria Golovnina)