25 killed in bomb attacks in Iraqi capital

BAGHDAD - Up to 25 people were killed and 37 wounded in three bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Wednesday morning, security sources said.

"According to police and hospitals' reports, the latest toll from the two attacks near the Foreign Ministry and the restaurant rose to 20 killed and 28 wounded," Brigadier General Saad Maan, spokesman of Baghdad Operations Command, said in a statement emailed to Xinhua.

One attack occurred when a car bomb went off at a parking lot outside the Iraqi Foreign Ministry building in the city center, while the other was carried out by a suicide bomber who blew up his vest at a restaurant frequented by security members in the same area.

Iraqi security forces blocked the area around the ministry building, which is adjacent to the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses some government offices and the US embassy.

An Interior Ministry source gave the same toll for the two attacks, and said a third blast took place in Sinak commercial district on the eastern bank of the Tigris river that bisects the capital, leaving up to five killed and nine wounded.

Earlier, a police source put the toll of the three attacks at 15 killed and 39 wounded.

Iraq is witnessing its worst violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll in years.