At least 40 people were killed in series of bombs in Iraq yesterday, with half of them being Iraqi soldiers, according to Reuters.

 

The most powerful blast occurred on a military bus carrying about 35 Iraqi soldiers early yesterday in Ruwashyid Village, about 150 miles north of Baghdad, a police captain said on condition of anonymity.

 

The captain said 20 soldiers were killed and 13 were injured, and the toll could rise.

 

The bus was part of a convoy being escorted by US troops, but no American casualties were immediately reported. A curfew was imposed in the nearby city of Beiji after the attack.

 

In the Karradah, neighborhood of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded during morning rush hour near a bank, killing at least 10 people, police said. The targets were the Iraqi security forces collecting their salaries from the bank. Last week, at least 27 people were killed at the same spot, according to Reuters.

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has so far presented a 24-point reconciliation plan. However, those bombs have blown the new government's efforts to inspire confidence in the country's security forces.

 

Moreover, the US plans to boost its troop levels in Baghdad in a bid to improve security.

 

Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded as a police patrol passed by in front of a hospital in the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km northeast of the capital, killing at least seven people and wounding eight, police said.

 

In the northern oil city of Kirkuk, a roadside bomb killed two police and wounded a third as they conducted a patrol.

 

A roadside bomb killed one person in the Zayouna District of Baghdad, police said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2006)