Baghdad - A rush-hour car bomb attack at a Baghdad bus stop killed 21 people on Thursday as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned that Al-Qaeda planned to launch attacks in neighbouring countries.
A parked car exploded next to commuters waiting at a bus stop in Baghdad's southern Al-Bayaa neighbourhood, killing 21 people and wounding 42, hospital and security officials said.
The targeted neighbourhood, a mixed area in southwest Baghdad, often sees clashes between Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents, and has been hit by several car bombs during Iraq's sectarian conflict.
Although the area lies in the mostly Sunni western half of the city, US commanders there say the Shi'a Mahdi Army militia maintains an intimidating presence and has driven many Sunnis from their homes.
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The evictions have brought retaliatory car bombs and an escalating cycle of violence, despite the increased presence of US and Iraqi forces following the launch of a Baghdad security crackdown in February.
The increased presence has failed to prevent continued communal bloodletting including car bombings.
A few hours after the blast at Bayaa, another car bomb went off near the Abu Jafar al-Mansur petrol station in the mostly Sunni Mansur neighbourhood as dozens of vehicles queued to fill their tanks.
Four people were killed and 10 wounded, security officials said.
Four members of a family, including three women, were killed when several mortar rounds struck their home in Baghdad's Al-Fadhel neighbourhood, witness Mohammed Saad said.
"Another man was wounded, with his legs blown off," he told AFP.
Insurgents led by Al-Qaeda have managed to carry out high-profile bombings in Iraq despite military sweeps across the country.
On Thursday, Maliki warned that Al-Qaeda planned to spread its "wide-ranging and dangerous plans" in neighbouring countries suffering from religious and sectarian conflicts.
"Al-Qaeda is surrounded and is suffering heavy blows in Iraq, and so elements from it are fleeing to other countries where it is easier to infiltrate and opening new battles to conceal its losses," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, three more British troops were killed when a roadside bomb hit their foot patrol in the southern port city of Basra, military spokesperson Major David Gell said.
"It is with deep regret that we can confirm that three soldiers were killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) this morning," Gell told AFP by telephone from Basra, adding that another soldier was seriously wounded.
Iraq's second city is a battleground between rival Shiite factions, and the 5500-strong British force deployed there often comes under attack.
The deaths brought the total number of British casualties in Iraq to 156.
They came a day after Britain's new Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to "learn the lessons that need to be learned" from his country's interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The US military also reported the deaths of two soldiers in separate roadside bombs in Baghdad, taking its losses to 77 in June and 3554 since the March 2003 invasion, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
Iraqi police and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said four journalists were reported killed over the past three weeks in Iraq.
A recent victim was Rahim al-Maliki, a well-known poet and anchor on the state-run Iraqiya television before he was killed in a Baghdad hotel bombing on Monday.
Two more journalists Hamid Abd Sarhan and Luay Suleiman were shot dead in separate attacks on Wednesday in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, respectively.
And Aref Ali Falih, correspondent of Aswat Al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq) died in a June 11 car bomb in Khalis, northeast of the capital.
At least 187 journalists and media assistants have been killed since the Us-led invasion. Two are missing and there has been no news of 14 others since they were kidnapped, according to the media watchdog. - AFP
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