A car bomb went off near a police patrol in a busy area in central Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing four people and wounding 10 others, a well-informed police source said.
 
"A car bomb parking near the Sindibad Cinema in the Sadoun Street, detonated near a passing police patrol, killing four people and wounding ten others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Ambulances and security forces rushed to the scene to evacuate casualties, the source added.

The attack damaged several nearby cars and buildings, he said.

A new wave of violence raged across the capital during the past 48 hours in the wake of the announcement by the Iraqi authorities and US forces on Monday that they were going to carry out a new security plan in Baghdad to crack down on illegal militants from all sectors.

US President George W. Bush also pledged to send additional 21,500 soldiers to Iraq, most of them to Baghdad.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2007)