Iranian Officials Unhurt After Baghdad Attack

Iraqi officials say a series of shooting and bomb attacks in the capital, Baghdad, has killed one person and wounded about 30 others.

In one incident Wednesday, gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying Iranian oil officials, wounding two Iraqi guards who were protecting them.

The Iranian oil ministry's website said the Iranians were unhurt as they came under attack while heading to Iraq's electricity ministry. It said the delegation, led by the head of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, Alireza Zeighami, later continued its schedule of talks with Iraqi officials.

In another attack, a car bomb exploded in western Baghdad, killing a passerby and wounding at least nine other people. Four additional bomb attacks, some targeting police patrols, wounded at least 18 people.

Iraq has been hit by other bombings this week. Two car bombs blasts Tuesday in the southern city of Diwaniyah killed 25 people. On Monday, a roadside bomb wounded seven people near a French embassy convoy in Baghdad.

Violence in Iraq is down sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007. Recent attacks against government officials and security forces, however, has raised concerns that violence may increase as the United States prepares to withdraw its forces from Iraq at the end of the year.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Source: VOA