A car bomb killed two people and wounded 14 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul this morning. Elsewhere, a US soldier was killed in a bomb attack north of Baghdad
The violence comes a day after Iraq's dominant Shia political party chose Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the head of a religious party who fought Saddam Hussein and took refuge in Iran for a decade, as its candidate for prime minister - making him the overwhelming favorite for the post.
This morning's car bomb attack took place in western Mosul, said Essam Youssef of the city's Jamhouri hospital, where some of the casualties were brought. It was not immediately clear what the target of the bomb was. Witnesses said no US or Iraqi forces in the area where the explosion took place.
The US military said two people were killed and 14 wounded in the attack, which it blamed on insurgents who "continue to disregard the safety of their fellow citizens during their attacks."
Also in Mosul, US soldiers shot dead a civilian in a pickup truck who approached their convoy too closely as he was trying to pass it, policeman Ahmed Rashid said. Weary of car bombs, most US military vehicles carry signs warning drivers to keep away.
Elsewhere, a soldier from the US Task Force Liberty was killed today when assailants set off the bomb near Tuz, 105 miles north of Baghdad.
Earlier today, the military said a US Marine was killed in a non-hostile vehicle accident during military operations in Anbar province west of Baghdad.
AP