Car bombings kill nine in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded outside a hospital in a Shi'ite stronghold of Baghdad on Saturday, killing five people and wounding 22 others, Iraqi police said.
Police also said four people had been killed and 20 wounded in a car bomb attack in the Shi'ite city of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad.
In Baghdad, the police said the blast took place outside the Sadrayn Hospital, the main hospital in Sadr City, a Shi'ite enclave.
There has been a surge of bombings in Shi'ite areas across Iraq in the past week that have killed 300 people and sparked reprisal attacks against Sunni Arabs. Most of the bombings have been blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
The past week has been the bloodiest since the launch of a major U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad in mid-February aimed at curbing sectarian violence.
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