String of Bombings Shakes Baghdad, Kills 10

An injured man is transported to Ibn al-Nafees hospital, after a bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on...

An injured man is transported to Ibn al-Nafees hospital, after a bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. Two bombs, one of them hidden in a trash can, exploded in a central Baghdad square Monday, killing six people and wounding 21 others, police said.

(Khalid Mohammed/AP Photo)

A series of bombings struck Baghdad and a neighboring province Monday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 40, including a deputy oil minister who was injured when a bomb went off in front of his house as he was leaving for work.

Most of the six blasts occurred in Baghdad, reinforcing U.S. military warnings that extremists remain capable of launching attacks in the capital despite an overall improvement in security.

The attacks took place on the eve of the U.S. presidential election between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, who hold widely differing views on the war in Iraq.

Six people died when a pair of bombs — one of them hidden in a trash can — exploded in Tahariyat square in the Karradah district of central Baghdad during the morning rush hour.

Police said 21 people were wounded, including 10 policemen and two women. The blasts blew out store fronts lining the square in a mostly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad.

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Soon afterward, a bomb went off in front of the north Baghdad home of Abdul-Sahib Salman Qutub, a deputy oil minister in charge of crude oil production. Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said the bomb was attached to Qutub's car and went off as he was walking to the vehicle.

Qutub was treated and released from a hospital, but his driver was seriously injured, Jihad said.

One policeman was killed and six were injured in a roadside bombing in east Baghdad, police said. Another policeman and a civilian were wounded when a bomb went off near a police patrol in the western part of the capital.

In Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, a car bomb blew up across the street from the provincial council headquarters, killing two policemen and a 10-year-old girl, Diyala provincial police said. Nine people were wounded.

A group of people were inside the council headquarters attending a conference on how to protect journalists in Diyala, one of Iraq's most unstable provinces. None of the participants was hurt, police said.