Car bombs in Iraq: 7 killed

Three car bombs exploded in central Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing at least seven Baghdad police officers and wounding several others including a member of a Shiite funeral procession, Iraqi police said.

Photo: Car bombs in Iraq: 7 killed

A late morning bombing targeted a security center the eastern Karada section of central Baghdad, killing four police officers and injuring another, police said.

Earlier, a car bomb blew up near a central Baghdad police checkpoint, killing three police and injuring four other people -- one police officer and three civilians, police said.

The morning of violence began with a car bomb exploding at another police security checkpoint in central Baghdad, wounding wounded one Shiite pilgrim. There were 13 Shiite pilgrims returning to Baghdad from a holy day in Karbala at the scene when the attack took place.

On Wednesday, 13 Shiite pilgrims were gunned down in Baghdad in two separate attacks, more examples of sectarian violence that has raged since last month's bombing of a mosque in Samarra, police said.

Altogether, at least 23 people died and more 60 were wounded Wednesday in Iraq, including four security forces who were slain when insurgents stormed a police station south of the capital. Also, three slaying victims were found in Baghdad.

Shiite pilgrims were returning to the capital from a pilgrimage in Karbala when they were attacked in northern and western neighborhoods in Baghdad.

In western Baghdad, police rushed to the scene and clashed with insurgents. Two police were killed and four others wounded in the fighting.

Insurgents also struck the mayor's office and police station in a town south of the capital Wednesday, killing three police officers and a police commando, police sources said.

Insurgents pounded the facilities in Madain with coordinated mortar and small-arms fire, sources said.

Interior Ministry commando units afterward conducted a sweep of the town, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Baghdad. Fifty suspected insurgents were arrested, including one Syrian, reports CNN.