A car bomb in southern Baghdad today killed four people, according to police and witnesses.
One eye witness said there were four corpses at the scene. Some houses were blackened by the blast and at least three cars were damaged.
"Four people were killed. We know it was a car bomb, but we have no idea if it was a suicide attack or not," said one policeman on the scene.
It was not immediately clear if the bomb had exploded prematurely, or what the target could have been. The blast was in a rundown area, in a narrow alley with space for just one car.
Residents said no city official or member of the police who are often been the target of attacks, lived in the area.
"A car drove into this alley and it blew up," said one resident who lives close to the scene.
Witnesses said an unexploded shell lay on the ground near the bomb site. Shells are often used in car bombs.
In one of the most recent attacks in Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew up a fuel truck on Monday outside a police station killing at least nine people and injuring dozens more.