Series of blasts in southern Iraq, seven killed

A series of bombs and suspected mortar rounds in the southern Iraqi province of Babel killed at least seven people and wounded 55, police said, a day after giant truck bombs rocked government buildings in Baghdad,

reported.

Accounts were confused but there appeared to have been at least three blasts. A roadside bomb in a market in a town near the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, around 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, killed four people and wounded 14, police said.

Mortar rounds landing in a shopping area of another town killed three and wounded 41, the police added. Hospital sources gave similar casualty figures.

The blasts occurred a day after huge explosions in Baghdad killed at least 95 people, most of them cut down by shards of flying glass in Iraq's foreign and finance ministries, dealing a sharp blow to public confidence in Iraq's security forces.

U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi urban centres at the end of June, leaving Iraqi soldiers and police in charge of protecting civilians.

The Shi'ite-led government has blamed al Qaeda and loyalists of ousted Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party for the attacks.