By Xinhua
Baghdad : A car bomb went off in a commercial area in southern Baghdad neighbourhood Sunday, killing seven people and wounding 15, an interior ministry source said.
"A car bomb parking at the Eshreen Street, a commercial area in Baiyaa neighbourhood, detonated around midday, killing seven people and wounding 15 others," the source said.
The commercial street was almost closed during the attack after several days of clashes between Sunni and Shiite militia, which led many families of the mixed neighbourhood to leave their homes.
In a separate incident early Sunday, US aircraft struck the Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding eight, a police source said.
US and Iraqi security forces raided the vast bastion, known as hotbed of militants loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al- Sadr, and conducted a house-to-house search, the source said.
US aircraft flew over the area and carried out air strike, badly damaging two houses, killing one person and wounding eight, the source said.
US and Iraqi security forces have a security plan in place in the capital since February 14 to control rampant violence.