May 4 (Bloomberg) -- At least nine Iraqis died and 46 others were wounded in a bombing today outside a courthouse in eastern Baghdad, President Jalal Talabani's political party said.
In Ramadi, west of Baghdad, at least 13 people were killed today in a U.S. air strike on a house, Agence France-Presse said, citing unidentified medics. The news agency said the military confirmed the assault without providing details of casualties. A military spokesman reached by telephone in Baghdad said Central Command was looking into the report and couldn't confirm it. Dozens were injured, al-Jazeera television reported.
The blast at the court was on Palestine Street, a mixed Shiite- and Sunni-Muslim area south of Sadr City, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said on its Arabic-language Web site without providing details. Two police officers were among the wounded and all other casualties were civilians, the Associated Press said.
U.S.-led and Iraqi troops are battling insurgents who are trying to destabilize Iraq's government by staging attacks on soldiers, police and civilians. Violence between Sunnis and Shiites has also intensified since the bombing of a Shiite mosque in February.
Police initially said the attack at the Baghdad courthouse was caused by a car bomber who targeted a three-car police convoy, AP said. Later, officials said the blast was caused by a man carrying explosives under his clothing, the news agency said.
Civilian Deaths
As many as 38,861 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the March 2003 U.S. invasion, according to the Web site of Iraq Body Count, a research group based in the U.K. that compiles casualty figures from a survey of online English-language media reports and witness accounts.
Also in the capital, an Iraqi army brigadier general was shot and killed by gunmen, AFP said, citing an unidentified Defense Ministry official.
In south-central Baghdad, two Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers were killed at about 11:45 a.m. local time today when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement without providing details.
U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the invasion, including Department of Defense civilian contractors, stood at 2,407 as of yesterday, a Pentagon tally showed.
