A car bomb blew up Thursday at a busy market in southeastern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20 others, police said.

It was not clear whether the attack was a suicide bombing or what the intended target was.

"A car bomb detonated at a busy market near a mosque in Baghdadal-Jadeda district in southeastern Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of people," Hazim al-Janabi, a witness, told Xinhua.

The blast set several cars ablaze, sending a plume of black smoke to the sky. Several shops nearby were also destroyed and the wreckage was scattered across the area, he added.

US soldiers and Iraqi security forces have rushed to the scene as ambulances carried dead and wounded people to hospital.

"It is a disaster, and it has no meaning. There wasn't any US or Iraqi security force in the area. I don't know what do they want," Janabi said.

Insurgents shot dead two top officials of Iraqi defense and interior ministries in separate attacks in Baghdad on Thursday morning.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks over the past two weeks to undermine the country's new transitional government, targeting security forces and officials.

(CRI.com May 13, 2005)