Car bomb near Baghdad university kills 10

BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) A car bomb near a university in eastern Baghdad killed 10 people and wounded 25 more today. An Interior Ministry source said, adding that the toll may rise.

A police officer at the scene said the car bomb exploded around 50 metres from the main gate of al-Mustansiriya University and that some students were among those killed.

The bombing was one of a string of attacks across Baghdad today as the government prepares to launch a major security crackdown in the capital. The attacks also come the day after the execution of two of Saddam Hussein's aides which fuelled anger among his fellow Sunni Arabs.

At least 25 people were killed by four other bombs in Baghdad.

In a twin bombing, a roadside bomb followed by a blast from a motorcycle rigged with explosives killed 15 people and wounded 70 near a Sunni mosque in Khilani in central Baghdad.

A police source said it appeared the blasts were timed so that the second would hit rescue services who came to aid victims of the first explosion.

Earlier in another central Baghdad area, Karrada, police had just defused a roadside bomb when another bomb exploded, killing four people, including two police.

The United Nations said today more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in violence last year.

Bombings, mortar attacks and sectarian death squads are killing hundreds of people every week. While bombings often attract more attention, the UN's human rights chief in Baghdad said most of the 4,731 people killed in the capital in November and December died of gunshot wounds -- an indication they were victims of death squad killings.

REUTERS SP MIR RAI2005