A fresh wave of car bombs and other attacks hit Sunni and Shiite areas in Iraq Monday, killing nearly 50 people, including two journalists for the American television network CBS.
In the bloodiest incident, a car bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed at least 12 people in a predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhood, Adhamiyah, in Baghdad. Soon after, another bomb in the area killed five more people.
A bomb attack near Khalis, south of the capital, killed 11 people.
And a roadside bomb killed two British members of a CBS news crew, a cameraman and a soundman, traveling with a U.S. military unit in Baghdad. CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier was seriously wounded by the blast. The explosion also killed an American soldier and an Iraqi contractor, and wounded six coalition troops.
A press freedom group, Reporters Without Borders, voiced sadness about the death of the CBS News employees. The group said the security situation is becoming more alarming for the press in Iraq.
CBS said doctors were "cautiously optimistic" about Dozier's prognosis. Separately, the U.S. military says coalition forces killed three insurgents in Ramadi and captured a total of 10 others.
Meanwhile, defense witnesses testified at the trial of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants on charges of crimes against humanity. One witness testified on behalf of Anwad al-Bandar, the chief judge who sentenced 148 Shi'ites to death following an assassination attempt against Saddam.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
