The death toll rose to 22 from two suicide car bombings targeting police
checkpoints at bridges in southern Baghdad on yesterday afternoon, an Interior
Ministry source told Xinhua.
A further 60 others were also injured in the blasts, the source added.
According to the source on condition of anonymity, a driver detonated his
explosives-laden car while waiting in a line of cars at a police checkpoint near
the old Diyala Bridge in Zafaraniya district in southern Baghdad, partially
collapsing the span. Apolice station is near the checkpoint.
Minutes later, another driver blew his vehicle up at a second checkpoint at
the nearby new Diyala Bridge, which was also damaged.
"According to our latest report, the death toll rose to 22 people with 60
others injured, including policemen," the source said.
Earlier, the source said two suicide car bombs separately struck a police
checkpoint and a police station in southern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people
and wounding 25 others.
Violence persists in Baghdad despite the presence of tens of thousands of
U.S. and Iraqi soldiers across the capital in a major security crackdown aimed
at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence in the war-torn country.
