Car and horse-and-cart bombs kill four in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb strapped to a horse-drawn cart exploded in central Baghdad on Friday, killing one person, while a car bomb killed three people north of the capital, Iraqi security officials said.

A ban on animal-drawn carts in Baghdad was imposed in response to the bomb, which had been booby-trapped and placed on the cart, said Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for security operations in Baghdad.

"We had information about possible attacks using animal carts ... and now this happened this morning in Karrada district," he said. "We have banned them until further notice to prevent these kinds of attacks."

Horse-drawn carts are commonly used to transport gas canisters, garbage and vegetables, among other goods. Militants have used them in the past to launch bomb attacks.

Reuters TV footage showed a building completely gutted by the blast, with the remains of a horse lying in a pile of ash. Four people were wounded in the bombing.

Police said a suicide car bomber attacked a police station in central Tikrit, 175 (110 miles) north of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding eight.

(Reporting by Aws Qusey, writing by Tim Cocks)