3 car bombs in northern Iraq kill 25

Three car bombs struck a predominantly Shiite town north of Baghdad, killing 25 people and wounding dozens, police said.

The first two cars exploded in quick succession at about 6 p.m. near a busy market in the center of Khalis, followed by a third car bomb 45 minutes later that was detonated about 500 yards away, said police, who also gave the casualty toll.

Khalis is in volatile Diyala province, where fighting has been raging among Sunni insurgents, Shiite militiamen and U.S. and Iraqi troops.

It has been struck by bombings several times in recent months, most recently on Jan. 22 when a bomb followed by a mortar attack struck a market, killing 12 people and wounding 29, police said.

A suicide bomber also blew himself up near a Shiite mosque in the town on Dec. 30, killing nine people and wounding about a dozen.