Iraq: 7 dead in suicide attack near Green Zone

A suicide car bomber killed seven Iraqis and wounded 11 others, including a member of parliament, close to an entrance to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, where several Western embassies are located, police sources said.

The central area, known officially as the International Zone, houses diplomatic missions including the US embassy and the blast was close to the July 14th suspension bridge which leads into the zone.

"I was on my way to enter the Green Zone when the blast happened. I was wounded in my shoulder and I'm in hospital now," Habib al-Turfi, a Shi'ite member of parliament, told reporters.

Two of the seven killed were soldiers, the sources said.

"Cars were lining up waiting to be searched at the checkpoint that leads to the Green Zone and suddenly a speeding car exploded nearby," said one police source whose patrol was stationed near the scene of the attack.

"Some people died inside cars and I saw two soldiers lying on the ground. We immediately closed the area," said the source, who declined to be named.

The last attacks in the capital occurred on September 9, when a series of bombs in mainly Shi'ite Baghdad districts ended one of the bloodiest days of the year with more than 100 killed across the country.

"It's a suicide attack with clear fingerprints of al Qaeda terrorist groups," a security official said on condition of anonymity.