Officials: Bombs in 2 Iraqi cities kill 10

[April 11, 2011]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Bombings in two central Iraqi cities killed at least 10 people Monday, with twin blasts near a school and market in a former insurgent stronghold leaving at least six dead, officials said.

In the city of Fallujah, police chief Brig. Gen. Mahmoud al-Issawi said a parked car packed with explosives blew up at about 11:00 a.m. as police were trying to defuse it. The blast killed two policemen.

About 15 minutes later, the second car bomb exploded about 150 meters (yards) away, targeting people gathered near the scene of the first blast, Al-Issawi said. That blast killed four civilians and injured 20, including two policemen.

The target was unclear, but both cars exploded near a school and market.

Fallujah is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province. It was once a capital for Iraq's insurgency.

Earlier Monday, four civilians were killed and 11 others wounded when a minibus hit a roadside bomb in southeastern Baghdad, officials said. Among the dead was a 10-year girl.

The casualties were confirmed by two police officers and a hospital doctor, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Even though insurgents have been weakened across Iraq in the last few years, deadly bombings and shootings still happen almost every day.

[Associated Press; By SINAN SALAHEDDIN]

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