Baghdad- At least 30 people died Sunday in several car-bomb attacks across Iraq, reports said
An US soldier secures at the site of car bomb explosion at Karada district in Baghdad ,Iraq, 15 April 2007. Five people were killed and ten others injured in the blast. EPA/ALI HAIDER
Two British soldiers died when two military helicopters crashed into a field near Taji, north of Baghdad. Britain's Defence Secretary Des Browne said a third soldier had also been fatally injured.
The US military command in Baghdad had initially said 'two coalition helicopters' had collided with each other in mid-air.
Only US and Iraqi troops are stationed in Taji. British troops control areas in the south.
At least 18 people died and 45 were injured when two car bombs exploded in a marketplace in Baghdad's Shurta district, Iraqi police said.
There were several other fatalities and many injured when other car bombs exploded in Baghdad's Amil district and in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Six people died when a bomb ripped through a bus in northern Baghdad, al-Arabiya news reported.
The death toll from Saturday's car-bombing of the Shiite holy city of Karbala rose to 40, according to the police.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called on 'all states and all Islamic forces to raise their voices and clearly condemn this felony.'
The British military in the southern city of Basra announced Sunday that British soldiers had killed eight men on Friday who had been trying to plant explosives in a street west of they city.
Meanwhile many residents of Basra were panic buying food to last them several days Sunday as Shiite groups have called protests on Monday against the provincial administration.
Witnesses said government representatives had removed documents from several administrative buildings and 'brought them to a safe place.'
Members of the Shiite Fadhila party, which has many supporters in Basra, secured party offices in the city.
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) which is part of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, announced Sunday that neither the party nor its Badr Brigade militia wanted to participate in the protests.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salek called on people in Basra to remain calm.
Meanwhile, the US reportedly arrested 1,000 Iraqis last month as part of its intensified activities in Baghdad bringing the number of those in US captivity to 18,000, the Washington Post said Sunday quoting US military police responsible for the prisoners.
A spokesman, Phillip Valenti, was quoted as saying that the prisoners had varying political, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Around 250 prisoners are from third countries.
The prisoners were all being detained based on intelligence and interrogations after their imprisonment and were deemed 'real threats' to coalition troops and Iraqi security forces, Valenti said.
The average length of arrest in the two prisons run by the US in Iraq is around one year, but 8,000 people have been kept longer - 1,300 for two years.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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