At least 24 people have been killed and 50 others injured after a series of bomb blasts hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. A string of apparently coordinated bombings – three car bombs and one suicide attack – struck central Baghdad near several government offices on Thursday, a security official and witnesses said. In addition to those killed, the attacks wounded at least 50 people, police said. Hospital officials confirmed the casualty numbers. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Security forces have imposed a curfew in the area and blocked the surrounding roads. The attack erupted shortly after midday in Baghdad’s Allawi area, not far from the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses several foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices. The largely commercial area is home to the Iraqi National Museum and the city’s main bus station. At least two blasts, including one car bomb and another believed to be from a suicide bomber, went off near a building currently housing the Justice Ministry. Violence in Iraq has subsided from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but deadly attacks remain frequent a decade after the US-led invasion.
