BAGHDAD, Iraq – A car bomb exploded in Baghdad's (search) western district of Amiriyah Wednesday, killing two people and wounding 10, police officials said.
The car was following a convoy of U.S. and Iraqi troops when it exploded near a gas station, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. All the casualties were Iraqi civilians.
The explosion came a day after gunmen killed the governor of Baghdad province and six of his bodyguards, and a suicide truck bomber killed 10 people at an Interior Ministry commando headquarters, the latest in a string of violence ahead of landmark elections.
The latest strike occurred as a solemn funeral procession was held in the same Baghdad neighborhood for the slain governor, Ali al-Haidari (search). It was not clear if the suicide car bomber intended to attack the mourners who included a number of Iraqi officials and dignitaries.
In another attack on Wednesday, gunmen shot dead Iraqi police Col. Khalifa Hassan and his driver as they headed to work in the restive city of Baqoubah, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Baghdad, doctor Ahmed Fouad of the Baqoubah General Hospital said.
Also Wednesday, four Iraqi civilians were killed and two others were inured when U.S. soldiers opened fire after their convoy was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades in central Ramadi, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad, according to doctor Riyad al-Hiti of the Ramadi hospital. The U.S. military media office had no immediate information about the incident.
Other assaults Tuesday killed six American troops as well, bringing the death toll in the last four days to more than 70. Despite the violence, which U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces have been helpless to prevent, American and Iraqi leaders insist the Jan. 30 vote would go forward.
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