The death toll from bombings outside the Iraqi Central Bank in downtown Baghdad on Sunday, rose to 12 and 40 people were wounded, an Interior Ministry source said.

Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad, June 13. The death toll from bombings outside the Iraqi Central Bank in downtown Baghdad on Sunday, rose to 12 and 40 people were wounded, an Interior Ministry source said. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo]

"Our latest reports said that 12 people were killed and 40 others were wounded by the blasts," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blasts occurred close to the entrance of the Iraqi Central Bank building at the al-Rasheed Street while the bank employees were leaving work at about 3:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), the source said.

The blasts ignited a huge fire in the fuel tanks of the generators outside the bank, causing black smoke to rise above the scene, the source added.

The Iraqi official television quoted Major General Qassim Atta as saying that the attack started with a roadside bomb explosion which caused more blasts and huge fire in the fuel tanks of the bank's generators.

The Iraqi security forces immediately surrounded the bank to prevent any attempt to rob it, while gunbattle erupted after the blasts between security forces and gunmen who apparently were planning to storm the bank and rob its vaults, Atta said.

"The situation is under control and the Iraqi security forces are surrounding the attackers," Atta said.

Sporadic attacks still common in the Iraqi cities nearly three months after the country held its landmark parliamentary election which is widely expected to shape the political landscape of the war-torn country.

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