Car bombs kill 8 in Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iraqi officials say two separate car bombs have exploded in a Shiite district in eastern Baghdad, killing 8 people and wounding 32 others.

Police officials say the first attack targeted an early morning gathering of day laborers in Baghdad's Sadr City on Tuesday, Jan 24. Seven people were killed and 21 were wounded, according to police.

Minutes later, an explosives-packed car blew up near a pastry shop in the same district, killing one civilian and wounding 11 others, police said.

Hospital officials in Baghdad confirmed the death toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, The Associated Press reported.

Over the past two weeks, hundreds of Iraqis have been killed and wounded in violence across the country, raising concerns about the ability of security forces to do their job. On Jan 18, gunmen stormed a home in a small town south of Baghdad, killing a local leader and three of his sons.

On Jan 16, car bombs ripped through two Iraqi cities, killing at least 11 people in the latest attacks targeting the country's Shiites a month after the U.S. military withdrawal.