At least 34 people have been killed in a car bombing at a hospital south of Baghdad.
The attack happened in Mahmoudiya, a town which has seen considerable violence in the past two years. Dozens of people were injured in the attack.
The explosives-packed car was parked in front of the town's General Hospital and blew up as two patrols of Iraqi police pulled up outside.
In a statement, the US military said the hospital had been the target of the suicide attack, but the bomber had failed to penetrate its security barriers.
The building suffered minor damage to its facade and three nearby houses were badly hit.
The bombing is the latest in a series of suicide attacks and car bomb blasts that have killed nearly 200 people in the past week.
Later, at least two people were killed and 13 wounded in another car bomb attack in the town of Hilla.
The blast occurred in a busy shopping district of the mainly Shi'ite town at around 6pm local time.
