Three killed, 56 hurt in Iraq blasts

HILLA - Three civilians were killed and 56 injured Wednesday when explosive devices went off in a residential area south of Baghdad, police sources said.

The devices had been stored along with rockets inside a house in the city of Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad. Their explosion burned down four houses and damaged some three others, sources told DPA.

While police are still investigating the reason explosives were inside the house, sources said they were set off by a short circuit.

Hilla, a majority Shiite town with a sizable Sunni minority, was the scene of numerous bombings between 2005 and 2007.

Both Iraqi civilians and security forces have increasingly been coming under attack from insurgents in recent months.

The surge in violence coincides with a drop in the US military presence in Iraq to below 50,000 soldiers, its lowest level since the 2003 US-led invasion.