The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Baghdad

A pair of car bombs exploded in central Baghdad Monday and a suicide bomber blew himself up among police and civilians who rushed to help the wounded, in a triple strike that killed 28 people and wounded 68, police said.

The attack, one of the deadliest incidents in Iraq for months, took place in the Kasra neighborhood 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.

Militants no longer control whole swathes of Iraq's towns and villages, and overall violence has decreased dramatically over the past year. But bomb attacks on civilian and military targets still occur daily.

Police said the first explosion was in a car. The second happened when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt in the middle of a crowd that had gathered around the vehicle.

Police officials giving the toll were unclear how many died in each blast and gave only an overall total.

Some police put the death toll at 25 with 45 wounded. Police officials who gave the toll spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.

Abbas Fadhil said he was working in a nearby restaurant that was damaged in the blasts.

"I rushed to the site and saw several girl students trapped in a bus and screaming for help. We took the girls outside the bus and rushed them to the hospitals," he said.

Ahmed Riyadh, 54, owner of a nearby grocery, said called it a "vicious attack" that "did not differentiate between Shiites and Sunnis."

"We are fed up with such attacks and we want only to live in peace," he said. "The politicians should work hard and set aside their differences to stop the bloodshed."

No group claimed responsibility for the blasts, the single deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in weeks.

But suicide attacks against Shiite civilians are the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq, which maintains a limited presence in Baghdad despite military setbacks and the Sunni revolt against the terror movement last year.

Violence is down significantly in Baghdad since the worst of the Sunni-Shiite fighting in 2006 and 2007.

In recent weeks, however, there appears to have been an uptick in small-scale bombings during the morning rush hour - targeting Iraqi police and army patrols, government officials heading for work or commuters, in an attempt to undermine public confidence.

At least 24 people were killed Oct. 2 in suicide attacks against two Shiite mosques in Baghdad. A string of explosions Sept. 28 in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad killed at least 32 people and wounded nearly 100.

The continuing attacks show the determination of extremist groups to continue the fight against the U.S.-backed government and lie behind U.S. military concern about drawing down the 151,000-member U.S. military force too quickly.

A still unratified security agreement with the U.S. would keep American soldiers here until 2012.

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months of taking office Jan. 20, although he has said he would consult with the Iraqi government and U.S. commanders before ordering any drawdown.