Iraq blasts target embassies in Baghdad
Updated on 04 April 2010
At least 35 people are killed and more than 200 injured in central Baghdad as three car bombs exploded near the Iranian, Egyptian and German embassies.
The blasts went off within minutes of each other. Police officials said at least 19 people were killed outside the Iranian Embassy and at least 16 were killed in the other explosions.
One of the police officials said many of the victims were employees at a state-run bank near the Iranian Embassy.
Security forces shot and killed a man wearing a suicide belt before he could detonate a fourth bomb-rigged car near the former Germany Embassy, which is now a bank.
The blasts followed mortar attacks on the Iraqi capital's Green Zone, home to government buildings, official residences and foreign embassies.
The bombings came two days after an execution-style attack by gunmen who raided homes south of Baghdad, killing 24 people, some of whom were believed to be former insurgents who turned against al-Qaida.
The rise in bloodshed after a relative lull deepened fears that insurgents will seize on the political turmoil after last month's indecisive parliamentary elections to sow further instability.
