Blasts rock Baghdad after night of violence

BAGHDAD, Mar 12 (Reuters) A series of blasts rocked Baghdad today morning, killing at least 10 people, after a night of violence in the capital in which a major hospital reported 20 people killed in separate incidents.

Officials at Yarmouk Hospital, one of Baghdad's biggest, said they had received at least 20 bodies overnight, all victims of violence. Most had been shot.

Six people were killed and 14 wounded when a roadside bomb targeting an American patrol exploded near a rail line in southern Baghdad, police said. Some of the victims were police.

Separately, two Iraqi soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded as their patrol passed in central Baghdad. Four other soldiers were wounded.

Earlier, a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol exploded in Mustansiriya square in eastern Baghdad today, wounding five soldiers, police said.

Two other civilians were killed and at least four wounded when a mortar hit a paint supply shop in central Baghdad. Another mortar bomb hit a house in the capital's eastern Jamila district, wounding two.

Four mortar bombs landed in Zafaraniya district in southern Baghdad, police said, adding that no casualties had been reported.

The blasts came hours before the trial of Saddam Hussein was due to resume in Baghdad. Saddam and seven others are charged with crimes against humanity in connection with the execution of 148 villagers from Dujail after an assassination attempt on his life there in 1982.

REUTERS DKS PM1348