Eight killed in Iraq bombings

Bomb attacks in central Iraq killed at least eight people and wounded at least 11 on Saturday, security officials and a doctor said. The bombings come two days after triple blasts killed 19 people in the southern port city of Basra. In the deadliest Saturday attack, bombs on each side of the main road from Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, to Fallujah, hit a truck carrying construction workers, First Lieutenant Omar Zawbai of the Abu Ghraib police told AFP. "Seven people were killed and seven wounded" in the blasts, Zawbai said, adding the workers took the road every day, as they worked in Fallujah. Dr Omar Delli of Fallujah Hospital said that "the hospital received seven bodies and seven wounded." "Three of the wounded left the hospital, but the four others are in critical condition," Delli added. An interior ministry official put the casualty toll at eight dead and 13 wounded. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the road where the attack occurred is frequently used by the Iraqi armed forces. The interior ministry official also said that three bombs exploded in the Baab al-Sharqi area of central Baghdad, killing one person and wounding four. Three bombs exploded in Basra on Thursday, killing 19 people, including high-ranking army andpolice officers, and wounding at least 65. The Basra provincial council sacked three top security officers the following day. Violence has declined nationwide since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 258 people were killed in October, according to official figures.