Bomb blasts kill 21 in Iraq

When the surviving soldiers responded by opening fire, they shot and killed the driver of a civilian car, said police Lt. Ahmed Abud.

The attack occurred near the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, which was at the centre of a prison abuse scandal last year after photographs were publicised showing US soldiers humiliating Iraqi inmates.

It was one of at least three explosions in Baghdad. Another bomb detonated on a busy road that connects with the perilous highway to the airport, police Capt. Thamir Talib said. One Iraqi was killed and seven wounded, hospital officials said.

On Friday, a car bomb ripped through a crowded Baghdad mosque during midday prayers, killing 12 people and wounding 22, police and hospital officials said.

After the mosque attack, which targeted Iraq's Shia majority, frantic worshippers searched through rubble for loved ones, and women wailed and beat their chests in grief. Body parts were strewn at the scene among piles of bricks, shattered glass and pools of blood. One man clutched a child's foot, shaking and weeping.

The car bomb exploded at Al-Subeih mosque in the capital's Shia-dominated New Baghdad neighbourhood, said police Col. Ahmed Aboud. Witnesses said the vehicle used in the attack had been parked outside the building since the morning.

Shia mosques and funerals have become a frequent target of Sunni-led insurgents.

In eastern Baghdad, two policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their car, said police Capt. Mahir Abdelsatar.

The US military said troops identified a roadside bomb on the highway itself and conducted a controlled detonation that caused no damage or injuries.