Seven people were wounded in a mortar attack near Haifa Street in downtown Baghdad, just blocks from the Green Zone which houses U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government, 1st. Lt. Muhammad Khayoun said. The wounded were taken to al-Kindi hospital.

Similar clashes also broke out elsewhere in the capitol, injuring four bystanders. U.S. troops rushed to seal off the area after the attacks, said Iraqi Army Maj. Salman Abdil-Wahid.

The area along Haifa Street has seen heavy violence in recent weeks, prompting Iraqi leaders to declare a state of emergency in Baghdad when violence erupted there nearly a month ago.

Provincial police in Ramadi on Saturday also confirmed that gunmen had killed a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

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