Three killed in central Iraq violence

Three people were killed and nine others injured in separate bomb and gunfire attacks in Baghdad and the province of Babil in south of Baghdad on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said.

In Baghdad, a sticky bomb attached to a sport utility vehicle (SUV) detonated in the morning in Baghdad's western district of al-Khadraa, killing a civilian and wounding four people aboard, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In a separate incident, the U.S. troops shot dead an employee working in Baghdad International Airport, when he apparently mistakenly drove his car close to their position in the vast open area around the airport, the source said without giving further details.

Also in the morning, a sticky bomb attached the car of an employee in a Baghdad court detonated near the New Baghdad district in the east of the capital, wounding three people aboard, the source added.

In addition, two roadside bomb explosions struck two U.S. military convoys in Baghdad, one in New Baghdad district, damaging a Hummer military vehicle, and the second on the highway near Baghdad's western district of al-Adel, the source said without giving further details about the incidents.

Elsewhere, six mortar rounds targeted a U.S. military base in Hilla, the capital city of Babil province in south of Baghdad, the source said, adding that five the rounds landed inside the base without giving details about casualty, while the sixth hit a nearby street, killing a policeman and wounding two people.

Insurgents in the Iraqi cities frequently carry out attacks against U.S. forces although they have formally ended their combat operations, cutting their military force to about 50,000. Washington said that the remaining U.S. troops will stay in Iraq for training, support and joint counter-terrorism missions.

Violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks continue in the Iraqi cities despite the country's lawmakers approved an agreement that aimed at bringing Iraq's feuding political blocs into a new government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Source: Xinhua