Bomb planted in Baghdad bus kills 5, wounds 20

Baghdad, Aug 27: A bomb planted inside a minibus killed five civilians and wounded 20 others in central Baghdad today, police and Interior Ministry sources said.

Iraqi soldiers and bystanders covered a number of bodies that lay on Saadoun street, one of the capital's busiest commercial districts. Thick black smoke rose from the mangled minibus, engulfed in flames.

The minibus carried passengers on a route from the Bab al-Sharji area to the predominantly Shi'ite Karrada district. It exploded outside a hotel complex but police said the bomb targeted the passengers.

Buses travelling inside Baghdad and to Iraq's southern Shi'ite cities have been targeted in the past by suspected Sunni militants as part of growing sectarian violence that has raised fears of a civil war in Iraq.

U S and Iraqi forces have stepped up security in Baghdad in recent weeks. The government hopes its ''national reconciliation'' programme will also help ease violence.

REUTERS