Baghdad car bomb kills nine, wounds 30 -official

BAGHDAD, Nov 25 (Reuters) A suicide car bomb killed nine people near the Iraqi Health Ministry in central Baghdad today, security spokesman Brigadier-General Qassim Moussawi said.

Moussawi said 30 people were wounded by the bomb, which detonated near street vendors close to the ministry building.

Police had earlier put the toll at two dead and 15 wounded.

Separately, a roadside bomb wounded two civilians in the Waziriya district of northern Baghdad, police said. A second roadside bomb exploded when Iraqi security forces arrived on the scene, killing one soldier and wounding six others, police said.

Overall attacks have dropped sharply in Baghdad in recent months after a build-up of US troops this year.

But US commanders have cautioned that militants have not been defeated, and there has been a upsurge in attacks in the past week in Baghdad. At least 13 people were killed on Friday when a bomb exploded in a popular pet market in the capital.

REUTERS SZ KP1444