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Bloody Wednesday in Baghdad; 158 killed

April 18, 2007 19:59 IST

About 158 people have been feared killed in a spate of bombings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Sources said that at least five explosions were reported from different parts of the city.

About 112 people were killed and 94 injured when a parked car bomb exploded in Sadriya market in central Baghdad.

Police said 28 people were killed and 44 wounded when a suicide bomber crashed into a police checkpoint at Sadr City, Baghdad's largest Shiite slum.

The third explosion went off near a private hospital in Karradah. About 11 people were killed and 13 wounded in the blast, which went off in a parked car.

The fourth blast went off on the western outskirts of Baghdad when a suicide bomber blew up his car targeting a police patrol. Four policemen are believed to have been killed while six civilians suffered injuries, sources said.

Three civilians were killed when a fifth blast went off in a car parked at Al-Jhumuriyah district, sources said, adding that 3 injured civilians had been shifted to a nearby hospital.

rediff News Bureau