Baghdad blast targets Minister of Justice

A powerful bomb has exploded in the path of a convoy for Iraq’s Minister of Justice Malik Duhan al-Hasan in Baghdad.

The blast killed at least four Iraqis, two of whom were his bodyguards, witnesses and officials said. Al-Hasan escaped unhurt.

"There was a blast alongside the convoy. A booby-trapped car came alongside and blew up," said traffic policeman Husayn Abid.

Abd Al-Nasir Muhammad, an Iraqi bodyguard at the scene, said four people were killed in the explosion. He pointed at one destroyed car and said: "Two were killed in this car and all we found was body parts."

Five gutted cars were littered across the road and Iraqi police collected human remains from the street.

Hospital officials said at least eight people were wounded.

"We were working as painters near the ministry house when suddenly there was an explosion. The glass shattered everywhere, hitting us," one of the wounded, Khalid Walid, said from his hospital bed.

The blast occurred in a district in the west of the capital just before 0900 (0500 GMT), members of the protection team said.

National Guard hit

Earlier in the morning, two people were killed and another 25 wounded when a car bomb exploded near the headquarters of Iraq’s National Guard in the town of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad.

A ministry spokesman said the blast occurred in front of the National Guard building in Mahmudiya, about 40 km south of Baghdad. He said the two dead and most of the wounded were National Guardsmen.

The attack occurred at about 800 (0400 GMT) in Mahmudiya, 30km south of Baghdad.

A US military spokesperson confirmed the attack, but had no further details.

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