Barrage of blasts rock Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (Reuters) A barrage of about 20 blasts rocked districts across Baghdad tonight, police and witnesses said.

Reuters reporters counted more than 10 explosions in the space of a few minutes. The blasts began around 11 p.m. local time (2000 GMT).

Police and witnesses reported explosions in the mainly Sunni areas of Doura, Sulaikh and Amiriya and Sadr City, a stronghold of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr.

The US military said it had no immediate information on the location of the blasts.

There were no immediate reports on any casualties.

Flares were fired into the night sky in the area of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified compound in central Baghdad that houses the Iraqi government and the US embassy.

REUTERS DH RAI0229