At least 30 killed in Iraq bomb attacks

The deadliest attack took place on Saturday in the mainly Shiite al-Amin neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad. Police officials said at least eight people died and a further 18 were injured when a bomb exploded in a restaurant-lined street.

In a separate incident, two car bombs that went off in the southwestern majority-Shiite district of Amil killed another eight people.

"A driver parked his car and went to a cigarette stall then he disappeared. Then his car blew up, killing passersby," a police source told Reuters.

News agencies Associated Press and AFP reported that a total of at least 30 people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday, as up to six car bomb explosions hit different parts of the Iraqi capital. It was not immediately clear who is behind the bombings. Such attacks are a common occurrence in Baghdad - and in the past some have been claimed by "Islamic State" (IS) militants, who have seized about a third of the country, including the second largest city Mosul.

In an attack late Friday, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden truck into a checkpoint just outside the northern Iraqi city of Beiji, killing a police general involved in an operation against IS jihadists for control of Iraq's biggest oil refinery. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack.

US offers more troops

The blasts came as United States President Barack Obama on Friday authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 extra troops in Iraq to advise and train Iraqi forces. The plan could lift the number of US troops in the country to 3,100, but funding for the increase would first need to be approved by Congress.

At present there are 1,400 American troops in Iraq, including 600 advisers in Baghdad and the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, Irbil. The other 800 troops are involved in providing security for the US embassy and the Baghdad airport. Iraqi forces are also supported by airstrikes carried out by a US-led coalition.

nm/sb (AP, AFP, Reuters)