Two explosions struck outside Iraq's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday as visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte prepared to hold a press conference in the Green Zone compound nearby, Reuters reported.
Police said two mortar rounds had landed in the area, injuring five civilians.
Meanwhile, Turkish warplanes have bombed 21 bases belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) both inside the country and over the border in northern Iraq, the military has said. The raids on Tuesday came after PKK fighters killed 15 Turkish soldiers near Semdinli in the country's southeast.
According to a military statement released on Tuesday, the planes bombed PKK bases in the Avasin Basyan region in Iraq as well as the Buzul and Iki Yaka mountains in Turkey's southeast. "The planes returned safely to base after successfully completing their mission," the statement said, according to Reuters.
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