Blast hits Iraqi students en route to final exams

[sabra]

Source: MSNBC/AP

Attack on school minivan, two other Baghdad explosions leave 5 dead

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb exploded next to a bus carrying Iraqi high school students to their final exams on Monday, police said, the deadliest in a series of blasts that killed five people in Baghdad.

The attacks came two days after the country's deadliest attack this year — a truck bombing that killed at least 75 people in northern Iraq.

Violence has been escalating ahead of a June 30 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from major cities and urban areas in Iraq. Officials have warned they expect militants to step up attacks around that deadline.

Another blast, caused by a car bomb, occurred in the Karradah district of the Iraqi capital, on the east side of the Tigris River. It took place on a road leading to a checkpoint that controls access to a bridge into the Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy. The explosion killed two people and wounded 11 others, according to police.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31483279/ns/world_news-conflict_in_iraq/