At least six Iraqis were killed and 10 injured when a bomb exploded in a market north of Baghdad on Wednesday, according to hospital sources.
The sources, cited by Reuters, said the blast took place in Khan Bani Saad village, located an estimated 40 kilometers north of Baghdad.
Elsewhere, six people were killed and 15 wounded overnight when UK forces pounded Iraqi fighter targets in the southern city of Amara and clashed with Shiite Muslim fighters, medics said.
British troops clashed with fighters for about an hour late Tuesday when their tanks tried to cross a bridge into the city.
British jets bombed three districts of the city where fighters are believed to be holed up, damaging six houses and cutting off electricity supplies.
Six people were killed and 15 were wounded overnight, said the director of the Al-Zahrawi hospital.
British spokesman Major Ian Clooney said the multinational operation "was specifically targeted against insurgent positions from where they continue to fire rockets and mortars against coalition bases".
Meanwhile, two Iraqi national guardsmen and three policemen were wounded in clashes with Sadr loyalists in the southern city of Kut, a doctor said.
The clashes broke out at around 7:30 am (0330 GMT), as loyalists blocked off streets in the Shiite city and besieged the governor's office in the eastern part of Kut, according to AFP.
Sadr's Mehdi Army forces, armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades, fought with Iraqi National Guard and police as US planes flew overhead.
There were also clashes outside a local government building in western Kut. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
