Explosions in 2 major Iraq cities kill 9 people

BAGHDAD (AP) - A barrage of bombings killed nine people in two of Iraq's largest cities Tuesday, stoking Iraqis' anger that insurgents continue to slip past security forces amid looming national elections and the U.S. military's planned exit.

The explosions in Baghdad and Mosul come on the heels of last week's horrific suicide bombings in the Iraqi capital that killed 127 people and wounded more than 500. Those blasts intensified pressure on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to improve security as he heads into key elections early next year.

Though not as deadly as past attacks, Tuesday's bombings struck the same open wound: They were the fourth in recent months to target government buildings and were the latest to hit near the Green Zone, Baghdad's most fortified neighborhood, housing parliament, ministries and the U.S. Embassy.

"There were two military checkpoints using detectors at the beginning of the street, how can such car bombs manage to enter and explode?" said a Baghdad woman who identified herself as Um Ali, her cheeks smeared with blood as she screamed at reporters.

Another bystander, who did not identify himself, shouted angrily that the government was hiding in the Green Zone: "Let the officials get out of the Green Zone."

In Baghdad, three parked cars packed with mines and other bombs exploded within minutes of each other around 7:30 a.m. just outside different entrances to the Green Zone, just as Iraqis were coming to the area for work.

One of the bombs went off near the Foreign Ministry, which was targeted in an August bombing; two others exploded near the Immigration Ministry and the Iranian Embassy.
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