Baghdad rocket attacks kill 10

Baghdad: At least 10 people were killed when a rocket slammed into a Shiite enclave in Southern Baghdad on Sunday, and an explosion killed two others near the heavily protected Green Zone.

The attacks came after an exchange of artillery and mortar fire between US troops and suspected Sunni insurgents south of the capital, where a major security operation launched earlier this month has tried to cripple militant factions and sectarian killings.

The Katyusha rockets hit Abu Dishir, a Shiite area surrounded by a prominently Sunni neighbourhood, during the busy morning shopping hours.

Earlier, a bomb exploded near the edge of the fortified Green Zone, which houses the US and British embassies and key Iraqi government offices.

The blast was close to the Iranian Embassy, but authorities did not believe it was targeting the compound.