A suicide car bomber attacked an elite Iraqi police unit in Baghdad on Sunday and killed 13 people in the worst of several outbursts of violence to hit the country. Iraqi police said the car bomber targeted a patrol of specialist police commandos as they were traveling on a highway in the east of the capital. All those killed were from the commando unit and 10 others were wounded, police said.The bomb followed clashes overnight between U.S. troops and Shi'ite militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City. Police said eight militia fighters were killed and five wounded in the fighting.
South of the capital, in the city of Hilla, a bomber on a bicycle rode into a crowded fruit and vegetable market and blew himself up, killing four, including a woman and child, and wounding 48, police said. The string of attacks comes three weeks before Iraq holds a referendum on a new draft constitution and amid a general increase in unrest both in central areas and in the southern city of Basra, where Shi'ite militia have fought British troops. The U.S. military has said it expects a surge in violence in the run-up to the referendum, set for October 15, with Iraqis strongly divided over a document that was supposed to unite them and lay the foundations for a more stable future.