A suicide bomber blew up a fuel truck near a Baghdad police station this morning, killing at least ten people, injuring 62 and destroying cars and buildings.
Witnesses said they saw a fuel tanker racing towards the police station moments before the explosion.
Television pictures showed flames still licking the wreckage of burnt-out cars an hour after the blast, and smoke rising from smouldering buildings.
The death toll was expected to rise.
Philippine troops leave Iraq
The last contingent of Filipino troops has left Iraq, meeting a demand by kidnappers holding a Filipino hostage.
The withdrawal took place a month earlier than had been planned.
The kidnappers had threatened to behead the hostage, Angelo de la Cruz, if the troops did not leave by the end of July.
The withdrawal has been criticised by the US and its coalition allies, as well as by Iraq's interim government.
Defence official killed
A high-ranking official at Iraq's defence ministry was shot dead in a hail of bullets overnight in Baghdad.
Issam Jassem Kadhem, one of the directors general in the Ministry of Defence, died at 10pm when attackers opened fire on him in the Saydia neighbourhood where he lived.
