Triple bomb attack kills 28 in Baghdad

By Peter Graff and Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two car bombs exploded in central Baghdad on Monday and a suicide bomber blew himself up among police and civilians who rushed to help the wounded, a triple strike that killed 28 people and wounded 68.

In another attack, in Baquba, capital of volatile northern Diyala province, a female suicide bomber killed five U.S.-backed security patrolmen and wounded 11 other people, the U.S. military said.

Police said the bomber was a girl of 13.

The triple attack in Baghdad, one of the deadliest incidents in Iraq for months, took place in the Kasra neighbourhood on the east bank of the Tigris River in a bustling area of tea shops and restaurants near a fine arts institute.

Male and female students, many of whom were having breakfast at the time of the strike, were among the dead and wounded, as were Iraqi soldiers and police who had rushed to the scene.

A Reuters television crew filmed scenes of devastation, with street-front restaurants filled with rubble and cars reduced to twisted steel.

Jassim Mohammed, a bystander, said he saw one of the car bomb blasts strike outside a restaurant.

"Innocent and simple people were gathering to have breakfast or shop in the nearby area. A minibus which was driving past was also hit and four or five of its passengers were killed.