IRAQ: Baghdad car bomb kills at least 10, bomb on bus kills two

Two explosions rock Baghdad, killing at least 12 people and wounding 20, police say. A car bomb killed at least 10 people and wounded 15 in the predominantly Shi'ite district of Karrada in central Baghdad on Wednesday (April 18), police said. Ambulances ferried the dead and injured to hospitals while security was tightened around the area. Gunshots could still be heard in the area after the attack. The area had been spared much of the sectarian violence that has engulfed Baghdad and other areas, dragging Iraq to the brink of civil war despite a security plan implemented by Iraqi and U.S. forces for more than two months to try to curb violence. In a separate incident, a bomb exploded inside a bus in central Baghdad on Wednesday (April 18), killing two people and wounding five, police said. The attack took place in al-Jumhuriya street in central Baghdad. Witness Abu Mohammed told Reuters: "Minibuses were queuing here. This area was crowded, we did not feel anything but a blast here." The attack blew a crater in the road and shattered shop windows. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday (April 18) that Iraq planned to take over security control of the whole country from foreign forces by the end of the year. He said there was no easy way to end the violence.

ITN Source | April 18, 2007

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