| A car bomb blast in a crowded market in the Iraqi city of Mosul and mortar attacks near the Italian embassy in Baghdad killed three Iraqis and injured at least seven others on Thursday. U.S. military spokesperson Lt. Col. Paul Hastings said that a car bomb exploded in a fruit and vegetable market in eastern Mosul, injuring two Iraqi civilians. Thursday's explosion came one day after fighting in the troubled city between Iraqi policemen and fighters killed at least four rebels. Earlier, mortar rounds were fired at an Iraqi National Guard base near the Italian Embassy in the Waziriyah district in Baghdad. Police Lt. Hussein Ali reported that three Iraqi civilians were killed and five injured. One witnesses, Bassem Mal-Allah, who was also wounded in the attack, said; "I heard an explosion and went to see what caused it and then another mortar came in and hit me." Meanwhile, Japan decided to extend the deployment of its 550 troops in southern Iraq for another year. |