Three American troops died by small-arms fire during combat operations west of Baghdad, the military said Wednesday.
Three car bombs exploded in western Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 19 people and wounding 48, police said. The first two detonated in front of two restaurants in the Shiite neighborhood of Shula in western Baghdad. The third, apparently driven by a suicide bomber, ran into a bus station, police Lt. Majid Zeki said.
Earlier on Wednesday gunmen killed a former judge, officials said. Separately, a Filipino hostage was released after almost eight months in captivity.
Former judge Jassim al-Issawi was a law professor at Baghdad University and the former editor-in-chief of Al-Siyadah newspaper, said Salih al-Mutlak, secretary general of the Sunni National Dialogue Council.
Al-Issawi, 51, and his son were killed in Baghdad's northwestern Shula neighborhood, said Abdul Sattar Jawad, current editor of Al-Siyadah, The AP reported.
Elsewhere, at least four people died in separate attacks Wednesday. A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi police patrol that included a special operations unit, killing two policeman and injuring two others in Madain, southeast of Baghdad, said police Maj. Raed Falah al-Mehamadawi said.
Separately, a group of children on bicycles ran over a bomb planted beneath the ground east of Baqouba, killing a 9-year-old boy and injuring two others aged 6 and 7, Army Maj. Fadhil al-Timimi said.
In another incident, a roadside explosion meant for a U.S. military convoy killed an Iraqi civilian and wounded three others west of Ramadi, Dr. Abdullah al-Dulaimi said.
Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said it had created a unit of would-be suicide bombers made up exclusively of Iraqis. "A unit of martyrs named Al-Ansar, belonging to the martyr Brigades of Al-Baraa bin Malek, has been formed. All its members are Iraqis," said an Internet statement, according to AFP.
The statement said the decision to form the unit came "due to strong demand from martyrdom seekers."
