Iraqi police said at least 62 people died and 127 were wounded in twin car bomb blasts in Baghdad. The explosions were reported in the district of New Baghdad, which is mainly Shiite.
Shortly later, a car packed with explosives blew up when the driver rammed a police checkpoint in the Shi'ite district of Sadr City in Baghdad on Sunday, killing one policeman, police said, according to Reuters. 10 other people were wounded.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the bombings as a desperate act by "terrorists" and "criminals" who sense they are being squeezed. "These crimes confirm the defeat of these perpetrators and their failure in confronting our armed forces, which are determined to cleanse the dens of terrorism," al-Maliki said in a statement.
The U.S. military also reported the deaths of two American soldiers, one of them in Baghdad. The other soldier died when a patrol came under fire north of Baghdad, the statement said, according to the AP.
