At Least 30 Killed in Baghdad Explosions

Iraqi officials say three car bomb blasts rocked central Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 30 people and wounding more than 160 others.

Iraqi officials say two of the explosions were near the Iranian and Egyptian embassies.

A security spokesman told the French news agency the near-simultaneous blasts were suicide car bombings.

The blasts shook buildings and shattered windows, sending a column of smoke across the Iraqi capital.

Gunfire was heard after the explosions as helicopters flew over the city.

On Saturday, Iraqi military officials imposed a curfew in the village of Bou Saifi near Baghdad, where gunmen wearing military uniforms killed at least 24 people a day earlier.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry has blamed al-Qaida for the slaying of men and women who reportedly had connections to the pro-U.S. Awakening movement, that helped U.S. and Iraqi forces fight al-Qaida.

Local officials said most of the victims were tied up and brutally beaten before they were killed execution style. They said security forces found seven people tied up but alive.

Iraqi security forces detained at least 25 people in connection with the slayings.

VOA NEWS

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