Two Car Bombs Kill 10 Iraqis in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Two car bombs shook the capital in quick succession Sunday, killing at least 10 Iraqis and wounding 16, police and hospital officials said. One American soldier was hurt.

A suicide attacker detonated a minibus packed with explosives near an eastern Baghdad police academy, police Cap. Ali Ayez said at the scene.

At least four mangled bodies lay in the street amid scattered shoes, papers and a handbag. Police collected body parts on stretchers.

The dead included three police academy students and a female officer, Ayez said.

U.S. forces helped the wounded, including a police recruit who received stitches in his abdomen.

The nearby Kindi Hospital received 10 bodies and treated five wounded from the blast, said Dr. Ali Ghazi. Police said 15 people were wounded in all.

At least eight cars were damaged and shards of glass covered the street.

Another car bomb exploded near a small market in the area of the Culture Ministry, police Lt. Ahmed Hussain said at the scene. The blast wounded at least one bystander and left a gaping crater in the road.

The bomb may have been aimed at a passing American convoy, Hussain said.

Capt. Mitchell Zornes, of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, confirmed that a convoy was targeted in one of the blasts but wasn’t immediately sure which one. One American soldier was wounded and evacuated to a medical facility, he said.

Improvised bombs – some left by the side of the road, others rigged in vehicles – have become insurgents’ weapon of choice in turbulent Iraq. Police and potential recruits are frequently targeted as insurgents try to thwart U.S. efforts to build a strong Iraqi force capable of taking over security from American troops.

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Associated Press Writer Sabah Jerges contributed to this report.