29 killed in Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD - At least 29 people were killed and 42 injured Wednesday when the north-eastern Iraqi city of Baquba was hit by four bomb blasts, police said.

The attacks came amid a spike in violence ahead of Iraq’s March 7 parliamentary elections.

The first two car bombings had targeted a police station and a car park in the city centre, not far from the seat of the provincial government, police said.

A man then detonated explosives strapped to his body in Baquba’s main hospital as ambulances arrived carrying the wounded from those blasts, police said, adding that the bomber had infiltrated the hospital by wearing a police uniform.

Soon after, police found another car bomb near a police checkpoint in the city. Security officials cleared the area before it exploded, police said.

Baquba, some 60 km north-east of Baghdad, is the capital of Diyala province, which lies on the border of Iran.