18 killed, 42 injured in Iraq blasts

BAGHDAD - At least 18 people were killed and 42 injured when two car bombs went exploded in western Baghdad Sunday, authorities said.

The two blasts went off within minutes of each other in the al-Karkh area. One of the cars had been parked near the government office where identity cards and passports are issued, while the other had stood alongside a branch of the Iraqi Commercial Bank.

The government office was open for business Sunday, with many people inside the building.

Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area, while ambulances transferred the injured to a nearby hospital.