Bombs kill 10 in Iraq: officials

BAGHDAD: Two bombs in Baghdad's district of Sadr City killed at least 10 people late on Thursday, security officials said, a day after the capital suffered its worst attacks in more than a month.

The latest spike in attacks -- two security force members were also killed in separate incidents -- comes amid discussions between Baghdad and Washington over whether to keep an American training mission in Iraq beyond 2011.

The two roadside bombs detonated at around 8:30 pm (1730 GMT) in Al-Hay market in the northern Baghdad district, officials from the interior and defence ministries said.

The interior ministry official put the toll at 10 dead and 31 wounded, while the defence ministry official said 10 people were killed and 16 wounded. Both said women and children were among the casualties. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

The interior ministry official also said gunmen shot dead an intelligence officer at a checkpoint in Al-Amil in south Baghdad, while a roadside bomb against an army patrol killed one soldier and wounded two others just outside Tikrit, in Iraq's north.

Thursday's violence came a day after a spate of attacks in the capital mainly targeting security forces, including two suicide car bombs minutes apart against police stations, killed 23 people and wounded more than 70. (AFP)