Twin bomb rattles Sadr City

Bomb attack in the district of Sadr City in Baghdad, the Shiite majority of the population, killing at least 12 people, Thursday (13/10/2011), security officials said.
Last occurrence of a series of attacks comes amid talks between Baghdad and Washington concerning the extension of the U.S. training mission in Iraq through 2011.
At least two roadside bombs exploded at about 20:30 local time (12:30 GMT) in al-Hay market in the district of northern Baghdad, the official said the interior ministry and defense ministry.
Defence ministry officials said two explosions killed 12 people and wounding 18 people, while the interior ministry official said three bombs had exploded, killing 18 people and injured 43 people.
Both the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said several women and children were among the victims. Interior ministry official added, six policemen and three soldiers were among those injured.
Interior ministry official also said, gunmen shot dead an intelligence officer at a checkpoint in al-Amil in southern Baghdad. Meanwhile, a roadside bomb aimed at a military patrol killed one soldier and wounding two others just outside of Tikrit in northern Iraq.
Also on Thursday, police arrested more than 300 people who allegedly "involved in carrying out terrorist and criminal attacks" against security forces, said Maj. Gen. Fadhel Raddad, the police chief in the province of Babil in central Iraq, where the arrests were made.
The violence came a day after a series of attacks in the capital city largely aimed at security forces, including two suicide car bombs a few minutes away to the police post, killing 23 people and wounding more than 70 people.
The attacks were apparently coordinated is the most deadly to hit the capital since August 28 when a suicide attack blamed on Al Qaeda in the largest Sunni mosque in Baghdad killed 28 people, including an MP.
The attacks came less than three months before the withdrawal deadline of about 41,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq by the end of this year, with Baghdad and Washington have not reached agreement on post-2011 training mission.
Although there is a decrease in violence across the country since its peak conditions in 2006 and 2007, the attacks are still common. According to the official count, 185 Iraqis were killed in violence in September.