Baghdad liquor store bomb kills 3, wounds 7; Iraq TV reporter loses legs in bombing of his car

Baghdad bombing kills 3; TV reporter wounded

BAGHDAD — A bomb planted inside a Baghdad liquor store Tuesday killed three people and wounded seven, police and hospital officials said.

Separately, an Iraqi TV reporter was in critical condition after a bomb stuck to the underside of his car exploded.

The noontime liquor store bombing in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood took place after people posing as customers left behind a black plastic bag filled with explosives in the shop, an Iraqi police official said. The Christian owner of the store was among those killed, the police official said.

The blast also damaged nearby stores. Broken bottles of alcohol and ripped beer cans could be seen scattered outside. A doctor at the nearby al-Kindi hospital, where the victims were taken, confirmed the casualties.

Both the police official and the doctor spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

About an hour earlier, al-Rasheed TV reporter Omar Ibrahim Rasheed lost both of his legs when the sticky-bomb hidden on his car detonated. He was taken to al-Yarmouk hospital in western Baghdad, where Dr. Hazim Ajrawi said he was in critical condition.

“We are doing our best to keep him alive,” Ajrawi, the hospital’s director, told AP Television News.

Al-Rasheed TV confirmed that their correspondent was injured but offered no further comment.

At least 141 journalists and another 43 media support staffers have been killed in Iraq since 2003, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Associated Press Writers Sinan Salaheddin and Lara Jakes contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that wounded reporter works for al-Rasheed TV and not al-Baghdadia station.)