A car bomb has killed as many as 25 people and injured 40 in Baghdad. It exploded in the mainly Shi’ite district of Bayaa, to the southwest of the capital. Police say the device went off in the morning rush hour. The site of the blast is a drop-off point for minibuses and was teeming with people going about their early morning business.

The Bayaa area is a frequent target for attacks blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. Meanwhile authorities say they have discovered 20 headless bodies dumped by the banks of the Tigris in Salman Pak south of the city.

In Basra a roadside bomb has killed three British soldiers and seriously injured another. The troops were on foot patrol when the explosion happened. They had got of their armoured vehicles in the Al Mutahya district. More than 150 members of the British armed forces have lost their lives in the US-led invasion of Iraq, launched in 2003.

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