Three dead, two dozen wounded in Iraq explosions

Baghdad (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded Tuesday outside a popular restaurant in eastern Mosul killing three people and wounding 19 others, a health official said.

Most of the dead and wounded were civilians, Salaheddin Thanoon, the head of the health directorate, told CNN. Three Iraqi soldiers were among the wounded, Thanoon said.

The incident happened about 12:30 p.m. on a busy commercial street near the University of Mosul.

Mosul is about 220 miles (350 kilometers) north of the capital city of Baghdad, where another bombing Tuesday left six people wounded.

The roadside bomb exploded in the al-Mashtal neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad, police officials said.

On Monday, gunmen killed Saad Abass, the head of an anti-al Qaeda Awakening Council, and his nephew as they drove in Falluja, health and police officials there said.

Saad Abass was the head of the Awakening Council in Al-Karma.

Such councils, also known as the Sons of Iraq, mainly consist of Sunni Arab fighters who turned against al Qaeda in late 2006. The U.S.-backed movement is credited as one of the main factors that contributed to a drop in violence.

Despite such attacks, officials say overall violence in Iraq has dropped dramatically since the peak of the sectarian conflict between 2005 and 2007.

Posted in: alqaeda, Baghdad, Iraq, Mosul, Sons of Iraq, Sunni Islam, University of Mosul