In all, 18 persons were killed and 53 others wounded in two bomb explosions that rocked central Baghdad Wednesday, as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Iraq, media reports said.
A car bomb and a second explosion around 11:15 am (0815 GMT) killed several police officers and civilians near a traffic police station and a hospital in the Nahdha neighborhood of Munstansariyah district in central Baghdad.
The U.S. military confirmed an attack in the area, and gave the same toll, adding, Coalition forces are responding to the incident.
The attacks came as Brown announced the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq by July next year.
Iraqi security forces continue to be the target of attacks by insurgents despite an overall decline in violence in the country, where the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 unleashed years of sectarian violence and insurgent attacks. However, car- bombs, assassinations and such other acts of violence are still common in this war-torn country.
The distrust Iraqis have of foreign forces was demonstrated Sunday, when an Iraqi journalist flung his pair of shoes at U.S. President George Bush during a press conference at the highly-protected Baghdad's Green Zone.
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