At least eight people were killed and ten others wounded when a car bomb went off near a restaurant in Baghdad on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry source said.

"An explosive laden car parking near the Nasaiyf Restaurant in Talbiyah neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad detonated at about 2:15 PM (11:15 GMT)," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Also on Wednesday, the US military announced deaths of three more US soldiers in separate incidents in Iraq.

One marine died on Wednesday from wounds sustained in combat in the volatile western province of Al-Anbar, the military said in a statement.

According to the statement, a soldier also died north of Baghdad as a result of "non-combat related injuries" on Dec. 23, while another soldier died from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident during a combat reconnaissance mission south of Baghdad on Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)