30 killed in Iraq violence

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Violence around Iraq left 30 people dead Wednesday, authorities said.

Two car bombs exploded Wednesday on a commercial street in central Baghdad, killing 13 and wounding 43, an official with Baghdad emergency police said.

The blasts happened around 6:20 p.m.

Earlier, a bomb detonated in a street market in central Baghdad's Nahdha district, killing nine and wounding 24, police said.

In Mosul, 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Baghdad, six gunmen were killed and two were wounded during firefights with Iraqi security forces.

Authorities arrested five gunmen and confiscated munitions.

The Mosul fighting came a day after a suicide bomber detonated a truck outside a political headquarters in the city, killing nine people.

Also, Wednesday morning, one person died and 11 were wounded when clashes broke out between police and members of Bani Assad tribe in Basra.

The tribal members attacked the Basra governor's office, contending provincial officials were behind the killing of their leader, Sheik Faysal Akhrabit al-Khayoun. He was killed by gunmen Tuesday night.

Authorities imposed a curfew after the violence, and British soldiers arrived to help restore calm. Basra, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Baghdad, is Iraq's second-largest city. It's population is predominantly Shiite.

In another incident, one Iraqi police officer was killed and four were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol in western Baquba, about 40 miles north of Baghdad.

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