Baghdad: Up to 10 Iraqis were killed and 10 more injured in a suicide bombing at the building of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Baghdad on October 27, US Brig Gen Mark Hertling said.

Witnesses said the explosion at the Red Cross occurred when the driver of an ambulance rammed the vehicle into security barriers -- oil drums filled with sand – and blew it up at about 8:30 AM.

The blast caused extensive damage inside the building of the International Committee of the Red Cross, employees said.

Ghani Kadim, 50, a cigarette vendor, said he watched an ambulance move down the street toward the Red Cross building. "As it entered the front gate of the compound, it exploded," he said.

American troops and Iraqi police streamed into the neighbourhood and cordoned off the area.

Red Cross spokeswoman Nada Doumani said there were casualties among Iraqi staffers of the Red Cross but she gave no figures and did not say if they were dead or injured. She said the building normally has about 100 people, mostly Iraqis, working there but it was unclear how many were in their offices.

"Of course we don't understand why somebody would attack the Red Cross," she said. "It's very hard to understand."

Three other blasts could be heard throughout the city following the Red Cross blast, which occurred after 8:30 AM. Witnesses said one blast was in the al-Khadra neighbourhood, where the relief organisation CARE is located. Another was in the al-Shaab district, another witness said.

In one of the other bombings, a vehicle exploded in front of the al-Khadra police station in North Eastern Baghdad, killing three or four people, according to Iraqi policeman Saad Abdullah.

He said about 50 people were injured and 10 cars were damaged.

PTI