Latest violence on the Iraqi arena has claimed some 20 deaths with bombing attacks targeting a transport station and a crowded market in broad daylight. In the bloodiest of these incidents of the past hours, up to nine people were killed and 34 others were wounded in a fiery blast that tore apart Nahda garage in the center of the capital. Most of the wounded were passers-by, a security source said. The source told KUNA that bomb disposal experts sifted through blood-stained rubble to try determine cause of the blast that ripped through Al-Nahda station. The location turned into a heap of charred human bodies, twisted metal, shattered glass and rubble. The explosion was the sixth of its kind in this location this year. In a previous triple bombing attack, at least 150 civilians were killed and 300 others were wounded.Separately, three Iraqi civilians were killed and 18 others were wounded as a result of a bomb blast that took place in the packed market of Al-Baya'a northern Baghdad on Friday. An Iraqi interior ministry source told KUNA that the explosion was a result of a bomb planted in a shack, and that it resulted in damaging nearby shops.
Elsewhere, two US soldiers were killed when an explosive canister blew up in southeastern Baghdad, said a US Army statement on Friday, adding that the canister had exploded Thursday evening as their patrol vehicle was passing by. The names of the deceased were being held pending notification of next of kin, and the investigation was under investigation, the statement said.
A police source told the Kuwaiti news agency that a policeman died and three others were wounded in a blast that targetted a police patrol in the center of the northern oil city of Kirkuk. Late last night, gunmen opened fire at a police station in the city, killing an officer. In a separte incident, gunmen shot dead a police oficer. It was also reported that two students of Mosul University were killed in two attacks by unknown gunmen. Four others were wounded.