Bombs kill 15 in Iraq

NAJAF (AFP) - As many as 15 people were killed and dozens more were wounded on Thursday when three bombs exploded simultaneously in Najaf, officials said.
A car bomb was detonated near a mosque and two other bombs blew up in a retail market as darkness fell in the city, 150 kilometres south of Baghdad, according to a security official.
An interior ministry official in the capital gave the casualty toll as 15 dead and 25 wounded.
However a local government official in Najaf told AFP that three people were killed and 80 injured, 15 of whom were in serious condition.
At 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), three bombs exploded at the same time close to a large market at Jumla, targeting the innocent, passers-by and traders, a local government official said. The victims are being transported to hospital.
An AFP correspondent in the city said Iraqi security forces deployed in large numbers after the bombings, with routes into the city sealed off.
The explosions resulted in tens of victims, a medical official said.