Bombings, drive-by shooting kill 7, wound 17 in Baghdad area

Drive-by shooting, bombings kill 7 in Iraq

BAGHDAD — A drive-by shooting outside a mosque and a series of rush-hour bombings early Sunday killed seven Iraqis and injured 26 more in and around Baghdad, police and health officials said.

Gunmen opened fire on worshippers as they were leaving dawn prayers in town of Jurf al-Sakhr just south of the capital, killing three and wounding one, said Maj. Muthana Khalid, the spokesman for Babil province police.

The 4 a.m. shooting comes in the first week of Ramadan, a holy month of daylight fasting for Muslims.

Hours later, rush-hour bombings across Baghdad hit commuters on their way to work, killing four and injuring at least 16.

The deadliest strike came when a roadside bomb exploded at next to a minibus heading from the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City into downtown.

Police said three people were killed, including a police officer, and nine were wounded.

A hospital worker confirmed the casualties.

Earlier, three bombs planted a few yards (meters) away from each other in a downtown business district blew up simultaneously. Police and hospital officials said a bystander was killed and seven injured.

Another roadside bomb targeted a traffic police patrol in eastern Baghdad and injured nine people, a police officer said. Three traffic policemen were among the wounded.

Traffic police, many of whom are unarmed, have become a new target for attackers. More than a dozen have been killed in shootings and bombings across Iraq recently.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

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Associated Press Writer Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.