At least nine people were killed on Tuesday in two separate car-bomb attacks in Baghdad, the Arab news channel al-Arabiya reported.
At least five Iraqis died when a car bomb exploded outside a building of the Education Ministry in the capital’s Adhamiya district. The attack occurred after most officials had arrived for work.
Earlier, another car bomb detonated in the capital’s western suburb of Abu Ghraib. Four civilians were killed in the blast, which appeared to be targeted at a patrol of the Iraqi National Guard.
A total of 12 people were injured, al-Arabiya said.
Meanwhile, the United States military conducted new air raids against the western Iraqi city of Fallujah, a hotspot of suspected insurgents, early on Tuesday.
A US military spokesperson said in Baghdad the overnight bombings had been targeted at the hideout of a suspected group of insurgents in the city.
Fallujah and the nearby city of Ramadi in the so-called Sunni triangle north-west of Baghdad have been in the hands of insurgents since April of this year.
The US military has conducted extensive bombings in recent weeks to win back control over the city. — Sapa-DPA