Iraqi police: Bombs wound 14 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - A series of roadside bombs wounded at least 14 people Sunday in eastern Baghdad, police said, in a sign of the ongoing security threats despite a sharp reduction of violence in the Iraqi capital.

The first blast occurred at 9:10 a.m. Sunday along Palestine Street near Beirut Square, injuring five people, including three policemen, officials said.

Another bomb exploded nearly an hour later on the Mohammed al-Qassim Highway, also in eastern Baghdad, wounding three policemen, police said.

In the afternoon, a bomb hidden in a garbage heap exploded near Palestine Street, injuring six people including a woman, police and a health official of Kindi hospital said.

They all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were was not authorized to speak to the press.

Small explosions, many of them targeting U.S. and Iraqi security forces, still occur throughout Baghdad, despite an 80-percent drop in violence nationwide since 2007.

Heightened security has sharply reduced the number of large car bombs, which caused mass casualties during the worst of the sectarian fighting.