Five policemen were among a dozen people wounded on Thursday in separate rush-hour bombings in Baghdad, authorities said, in a reminder of continuing violence in Iraq.
Officials said all three blasts were caused by roadside bombs, and two appeared to target police patrols. Iraqi security forces have faced heightened threats across the country as US troops prepare to leave.
The first explosion came at 7.30 am local time and targeted a police patrol in the Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of Ghazaliyah in the capital's west. Officials say three policemen and two passers-by were wounded. A medic at Yarmouk Hospital confirmed the casualties.
Fifteen minutes later, the second bomb stuck near a bus station in central Baghdad. Hospital and police officials said four bystanders were hurt.
And in the southeastern Baghdad suburb of Jisr Diyala, a Shia area, another police patrol hit a roadside bomb, which wounded two officers and a passer-by and wrecked the police car. A medic from Zafaraniyah hospital confirmed the casualties.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq but bombings and shootings still occur almost every day.