At least five people were killed and 35 injured when a bomb exploded in a market in the central Iraqi city of Hilla Sunday, police said.
The blast at the market in al-Mussayeb neighbourhood, caused extensive damage to nearby shops, witnesses told DPA. Hilla is situated some 100 km south of the capital Baghdad.
Security forces sealed off the area and the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital.
Meanwhile, a security source said Sunday that a mortar attack targeted a US military base in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi late Saturday, causing seven consecutive explosions.
No casualties were reported following the attack on the base in the Habaneya neighbourhood, 85 km west of Baghdad.
The source, who declined to be named, said the mortar might have fallen on military ammunition, causing the blasts.
US troops pulled out of Iraqi city centres in June. A complete withdrawal from the country is planned for the end of 2011.
The attacks came a week after twin truck bombings targeting government buildings that left 155 people dead and hundreds wounded. The bombings were the deadliest to hit Iraq since 2007.