25 killed in Baghdad market blast
At least 25 Iraqis were killed today when a parked car bomb exploded in an outdoor market in south-western Baghdad.
The deadly blast occurred about 10am local time in the Shiite-dominated neighbourhood of Amil, damaging a nearby medical centre and setting cars on fire, police said.
Sunni politicians have expressed fears in recent weeks that the neighbourhood was witnessing a resumption of sectarian cleansing by Shiite militiamen.
Earlier, in the nearby Khadra neighbourhood, gunmen in two cars ambushed a civilian car carrying three plainclothes police officers from the major crimes unit, killing two and wounding the third, police said.
Police and other Iraqi security officers have been targeted by insurgents, who accuse them of collaborating with US-led forces in the country.
