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Car bombs kill dozens in Baghdad | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
At least 67 people have been killed and almost 100 have been wounded in two separate bombings in Baghdad, Iraqi police have said. | |
In one attack, a fuel tanker exploded near a petrol station in the mainly Sunni suburb of Mansour, killing 50. | |
Earlier, at least 17 people were killed and 32 injured in a blast in the mainly Shia shopping district of Karrada. | |
Also in Baghdad, the US military said three of its soldiers had been killed and six wounded by a roadside bomb. | |
The Karrada bomb was placed in a parked vehicle and went off in an area with many electronics stores and a popular ice-cream parlour, reports say. | The Karrada bomb was placed in a parked vehicle and went off in an area with many electronics stores and a popular ice-cream parlour, reports say. |
A car bomb in the same area killed 25 people last week. | A car bomb in the same area killed 25 people last week. |
Karrada has been hit by a string of bombs in the past 10 days. On Monday of last week, four separate car bombs killed 16 people. | Karrada has been hit by a string of bombs in the past 10 days. On Monday of last week, four separate car bombs killed 16 people. |
US and Iraqi forces have tightened security in Baghdad since earlier in the year in an attempt to stem such bombings. | US and Iraqi forces have tightened security in Baghdad since earlier in the year in an attempt to stem such bombings. |
Sunni withdrawal | |
In other developments, the main Sunni Arab political bloc in Iraq, the Iraqi Accordance Front, has said it is withdrawing from the government. | |
The group, which has six cabinet ministers, said the Shia-led administration had failed to meet a list of demands, including one urging tough action against Shia militias. | |
The Sunni leaders had also demanded a bigger say in security matters. | |
And Iraqi officials say more than 1,600 civilians were killed in July - an increase of about a third from the previous month. | |
The figure is also higher than the number of civilian deaths in February, when the US launched its so-called surge, which involved sending thousands more troops to Baghdad. | |
The US military says American casualties fell last month to their lowest level this year. |