Baghdad bomb blasts kill 8, U.S. withdrawing troops

By Michael Holden

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two roadside bombs exploded within a few minutes of each other in Baghdad on Thursday, killing eight people on the day that the U.S. military said it was withdrawing 2,000 troops from the Iraqi capital.

Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi security operations in Baghdad, said the blasts occurred in a shopping area in the central Karrada district.

"Two roadside bombs exploded in succession. There are a number of casualties," he said. Iraqi police said the blasts had killed eight people and wounded 23.

A witness at the scene said he had counted 13 bodies, adding that he had seen people holding body parts. He also saw a woman crying in the street as rescuers searched for her sons.

Dozens of shopfronts were damaged and at least 12 ambulances had raced to the area, the witness said.

While violence has subsided across Iraq in recent months, U.S. and Iraqi officials say al Qaeda, which they blame for most large scale bombings, remains dangerous.

On Monday, two bomb blasts in central and eastern Baghdad killed 19 people, despite an increase in security for the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Last month two women killed 99 people when they detonated explosives in packed markets in the Iraqi capital.