A series of explosions left at least 31 people dead and wounded dozens Sunday as IraqÂ’s relentless violence remained unabated despite an appeal from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for an end to sectarian fighting.A U.S. soldier was killed Saturday night southeast of Baghdad when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb explosion, the U.S. military said. On Sunday, a bomb planted in a small bus detonated outside the Palestine hotel in downtown Baghdad, killing at least nine people and injuring 16, police and witnesses said. In the Palestine attack in the capital, the bomb planted in a small bus detonated shortly before noon near the hotelÂ’s pedestrian entry point. AP Television News showed the white vehicle stopping and detonating in front of the hotelÂ’s concrete blast walls. Bodies were strewn on the road around the blast site. It was not clear how the bomb was detonated.
Another car bomb exploded in the parking lot of a government-run newspaper in the capital, killing at least three people and injuring at least 29. The attack against the al-Sabah newspaper in a largely Sunni Arab neighbourhood set at least 25 cars on fire and badly damaged the newspaper building.