Five killed by car bombs in Baghdad

Photo: Five killed by car bombs in Baghdad

Five people were killed and a dozen was wounded by car bombs in Baghdad , including at least one near the Polish embassy, authorities said.

A 2 p.m. (11:00 GMT) blast near the Polish embassy in the downtown Shiite-controlled Karradah district killed two persons and wounded five. All the victims were Iraqis, the police said.

The Polish Charge d'Affaires Waldemar Figaj told The Associated Press that there had been a series of explosions around the embassy Monday but that the closest was about 200 meters (219 yards), and that the embassy had no reason to believe it "was targeted in any way."

Polish Ambassador Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, was wounded when his convoy was ambushed with roadside bombs last week in Karradah, in an attack that also killed a Polish security guard and two others.

Figaj said the ambassador was still being kept in an artificial coma in a hospital in Poland, a procedure he said was induced to alleviate pain because Pietrsyk had sustained burns over 20 percent of his body.

Also Monday, a car bomb went off at a small popular market near Baghdad University's technology department, killing three civilians and wounding 11, police said. That bomb exploded at 12:30 a.m. (9:30 GMT) in Sinaa Street, in downtown Baghdad.

The wounded included four women and three children. The casualties were taken to a nearby hospital. Police also said at least six other cars parked in the area were damaged as well by the blast.

Half an hour earlier, another parked car bomb went off near a police checkpoint in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Kamaliyah in eastern Baghdad, wounding six civilians and damaging at least three cars, police said.

AP Television News footage from the market bombing showed the mangled wreckage of the car bomb and damaged cars surrounding it. American soldiers were also seen at the scene and U.S. helicopters flew over the area.