Six killed and 20 injured in Baghdad bombing

A SUICIDE bomber drove an explosives-laden car into an Iraqi army check-point in western Baghdad, killing six people and injuring 20 yesterday.

Police and hospital officials said three Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were killed in the early-morning attack in which a car bomb was detonated in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliyah.

Officials said 20 people were wounded in the blast and taken to Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital. Yesterday's attack comes after almost 70 people were killed in suicide bombings and roadside bombs targeting hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims who converged on the Iraqi capital to commemorate the death of a revered Shiite holy man, buried in Baghdad's Kazimiyah neighborhood.

The bloodshed comes as Iraq's nascent democracy is particularly vulnerable as officials jostle for power while struggling to ensure security and stability.

Although violence in Iraq has subsided in the past few years, members of the security forces are still frequently targeted by insurgents seeking to stoke sectarian tensions. There are fears that such attacks could increase amid a political deadlock four months after inconclusive elections and a few weeks before US troops begin heading home.