Baghdad  - At least five people died Friday in a round of mortar attacks, as incidents targeting Shiite-dominated districts in Baghdad increased.

The total number of victims was not confirmed, but a source in the Interior Ministry said the attacks killed at least five people and wounded 12.

Witnesses told dpa, the German news agency, that the mortar rounds, which struck Jisr Diyala district - an impoverished neighbourhood in southern Baghdad, killed seven people and wounded 18.

Baghdad

Baghdad  - Iraq's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that 17 were injured when suicide bomber blew himself up at a military base in western Iraq, contradicting earlier reports that 16 were killed.

It was reported earlier that the bomber blew himself up inside a restaurant in al-Habania military base in Anbar province, killing 16 and injuring more than 50.

The defence ministry statement said there were no fatalities.

The attack took place at lunchtime when officers and soldiers were eating in a big dining hall, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

Vilseck, Germany  - A US soldier was sentenced by a military court to life in prison Thursday for the murder of four blindfolded Iraqi men and dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal.

A jury of eight found Master Sergeant John Hatley, 40, guilty on Wednesday.

Hatley, the highest-ranked of five accused, had been charged with premeditated murder by the military court in Vilseck, Germany, where their unit is based.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday blamed a recent series of deadly bombings in Baghdad on cells of the Baath Party. Over the course of three days last week, eight car bombs struck Shiite districts of Baghdad, killing at least 51 people. The Baath Party, led by late dictator Saddam Hussein, was removed from power in Iraq in 2003 by the US-led invasion.