Eight more killed in Iraq bombings

Security in Iraq continues to deteriorate and attacks remain common Bomb attacks in central Iraq killed at least eight people and wounded at least 11 on Saturday, security officials and a doctor said. The bombings come two days after triple blasts killed 19 people in the southern port city of Basra.
In the deadliest Saturday attack, bombs on each side of the main road from Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, to Fallujah, hit a truck carrying construction workers, First Lieutenant Omar Zawbai of the Abu Ghraib police told AFP.
"Seven people were killed and seven wounded" in the blasts, Zawbai said, adding the workers took the road every day, as they worked in Fallujah.
Dr Omar Delli of Fallujah Hospital said that "the hospital received seven bodies and seven wounded."
"Three of the wounded left the hospital, but the four others are in critical condition," Delli added.
An interior ministry official put the casualty toll at eight dead and 13 wounded.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the road where the attack occurred is frequently used by the Iraqi armed forces.
The interior ministry official also said that three bombs exploded in the Baab al-Sharqi area of central Baghdad, killing one person and wounding four.
Three bombs exploded on Thursday in the south Iraq port city of Basra, killing 19 people, including high-ranking army and police officers, and wounding at least 65, security and medical officials said.
The Basra provincial council sacked three top security officers the following day.
A roadside bomb and a motorcycle bomb exploded simultaneously at about 6:40 pm (1540 GMT) in a market in central Basra, an interior ministry official said.
Following a common pattern in Iraq, a third roadside bomb went off as people gathered at the scene, according to the official, who put toll at 19 killed and 67 wounded.
An army brigade commander and a high-ranking police officer were among the dead, while police and soldiers were also wounded in the blasts, the official said.
Riyadh Abdelamir, the head of the Basra health directorate, said that 19 people were killed and 65 wounded in the blasts.
Army and police deployed in force following the blasts, cordoning off the market, an AFP correspondent said.
It was the deadliest day in Iraq since October 27, when two roadside bombs in Baghdad’s Urr neighbourhood killed at least 32 people and wounded 71 others.
On November 2, three motorbike bombings in Basra killed at least nine people and wounded at least 37.
Violence has declined nationwide since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 258 people were killed in October, according to official figures.