Nine killed, 42 wounded in Baghdad blast

A parked car bomb in central Baghdad killed nine people and wounded 42 on Friday, police said.

 

Reuters witnesses saw a cloud of brown smoke rising over the area at a busy traffic intersection on the east side of the Tigris river in the centre of the Iraqi capital.

 

Police said the victims were civilians. At least one woman and one child were among the dead. The bomb struck while many in the capital were attending Friday prayers.

 

Overall violence in Iraq has fallen in recent months, but attacks still persist against civilians, Iraqi and U.S. troops and neighbourhood patrols recruited to fight militants. (Reuters)