11 killed in spate of Baghdad bombings

Eleven people were killed and 63 wounded in a spate of bombings in Baghdad on Monday, security and hospital officials said, just days before US troops must pull out of Iraq's cities.

In the capital's sprawling Shiite slum neighbourhood of Sadr City, a roadside bomb hit a minibus, killing three university students who were on their way to write their final exams.

Twelve other students and the minibus driver were also injured in the morning rush-hour attack.

A woman and a four-year-old child were among three people killed when a bomb targeting a police patrol exploded near a market in Shaab, northeast Baghdad, hospital officials said. Another 30 people were wounded.

Iraqi police set off a controlled explosion of another bomb in the same area soon afterwards.

In the bustling commercial neighbourhood of Karrada in the centre of the capital, five people were killed and 20 hurt in a car bomb blast.

The bombings were the latest bloody attacks in the runup to the planned pullout of US troops from Iraqi towns and cities by June 30.

Violence has dropped markedly in Iraq in recent months, with May seeing the lowest Iraqi death toll since the 2003 invasion. But attacks remain common, particularly in Baghdad and the main northern city of Mosul.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned earlier this month that insurgents and militiamen would likely step up their attacks in the coming weeks in a bid to undermine confidence in the Iraqi security forces.

In the deadliest attack for 16 months, 72 people were killed on Saturday in a massive truck bombing in the predominantly Shiite Turkmen town of Taza Kharmatu near the northern oil hub of Kirkuk.