At least 15 people were killed and several others were injured by a car bomb in the city of Hilla, south of the Iraqi capital, this evening, according to the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera.
The blast occurred in the city centre, but the target was not
immediately known.
Earlier, militiamen loyal to Moqtada Sadr opened fire on a US military convoy that entered the centre of the holy city of Najaf.
A senior coalition military official said the convoy of trucks lost its way and found itself in the heart of Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad.
Te truck drivers called for help, and were trying to turn around a traffic circle near the mosque when the shooting happened.
And a group lead by Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi has threatened to kill three Turkish hostages unless the Ankara government pulls its companies out of Iraq within 72 hours.
