Bombings kill 12 people in and around Baghdad

BAGHDAD – Bombs targeting commercial streets and an army patrol killed 12 people in and around Baghdad Saturday, Iraqi authorities said.

Police officials said a bomb exploded on a commercial street in the town of Madain, about 20 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of the capital, killing four people and wounding nine others.

In the northern Baghdad suburb of Taji a bomb blast near shops killed three people and wounded 11 others. A roadside bomb struck an army patrol in the western suburbs, killing three soldiers and wounding six others, police officials said.

In Baghdad, a bomb exploded in the city centre near a bakery shop, killing two people and wounding four, security officials said. They said all the dead were civilians.

Medics confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.