Baghdad blast kills at least 20

BBC

A car bomb has killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police said.

The bomb was left in a parked car at a bus terminal in the mainly Shia district of Bayaa in south-west Baghdad, officials said.

The explosion tore through crowds of commuters waiting for buses during the morning rush hour, tearing vehicles open and injuring about 40 people.

The bomb comes amid a major security drive in and around the capital city.

In other developments:

* Relatives of 11 Iraqis killed by US troops in the village of Khalis last week have demanded compensation, and have called for the Americans to withdraw claims the men were from al-Qaeda;

* Twenty headless bodies without identification have been found on the banks of a stream near the Tigris river close to Baghdad;

* Three British soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their patrol in Basra, in southern Iraq. A fourth soldier was wounded.

In Baghdad, about 40 vehicles, including buses, were set alight in the latest explosion, which occurred at 0815 (0415 GMT).

Police and medical officials said between 20 and 25 people had been killed and at least 40 injured.......