Car Bombing in Baghdad Kills At Least 8

By VOA News
15 March 2007

Iraqi police say a car bomb in central Baghdad has killed eight people and wounded 25.

Iraqi security forces were among the casualties. The suicide bomber blew up his car near an Iraqi military checkpoint in a Shi'ite neighborhood of the capital.

Also Thursday, a car bomb killed at least four people and wounded 24 others in the town of Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad.

Police say the bomb exploded as a bus passed carrying employees of a state-owned company.

Iskandariyah has been hit frequently by Sunni Arab insurgents.

In other news, the U.S. military says coalition forces accidentally killed an Iraqi army soldier and wounded three others in the northern city of Mosul.

The military expressed regret, but said coalition troops acted when they came under fire.

The military also says a U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday in combat in al-Anbar province.

In Washington, President Bush is to meet with visiting Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi later Thursday.

On Wednesday, the U.S. military in Iraq said the number of sectarian killings in Baghdad has dropped significantly since U.S. and Iraqi forces began a security crackdown in the capital.

Major General William Caldwell said the number of killings has been cut in half since the Baghdad security plan began on February 14.

But he called for patience, saying it will take months before the crackdown takes full effect.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.