Story highlights
Three roadside bombs went off in a commercial district of Baghdad, police said
Another bomb hit a minibus carrying laborers in eastern Falluja, officials said
Iraq's army will take over full responsibility for security when U.S. forces leave next month
A series of deadly bombings claimed more than a dozen lives in Iraq Saturday, according to police and health officials.
Seven people were killed and 28 others wounded when three roadside bombs exploded mid-morning in the busy Bab al-Sharji commercial district of central Baghdad, police officials said.
Another six men died and 10 others were injured when a roadside bomb hit a minibus carrying young laborers and construction workers in al-Annaz area in eastern Falluja, health and police officials said.
The blast occurred at about 5.30 a.m. local time in what is a predominately Sunni area.
“The victims were traveling every day in a minibus from Abu Ghraib to Falluja to work in a number of reconstruction sites,” police officer Ahmed Salman told CNN.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi army held a military parade in Falluja, sending hundreds of Iraqi soldiers accompanied by military vehicles through the main streets of the town Saturday morning, police told CNN.
The military parade was part of preparations for the Iraqi army to take over full responsibility for security after U.S. troops leave Iraq on December 31 this year.
Violence in Iraq has declined from its peak, but attacks around the country continue to cause deaths and injury.
On Thursday, 19 people were killed and dozens others were hurt when three explosions hit a commercial district in Basra, an oil-rich, predominantly Shiite city about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Baghdad.