Seventeen die in Baghdad blasts

The Baab al-Sharji bombs went off during the morning shopping rush

At least 17 people have been killed in a number of explosions in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police say.

In the bloodiest attack, at least 10 people died and about 25 were injured when a car bomb went off near the al-Shaab stadium in central Baghdad.

Separately, two roadside bombs in the central Baab al-Sharji area killed at least seven people.

Earlier, the US military said three of its soldiers were killed on Wednesday in two separate attacks in the capital.

The car bomb exploded at a petrol station near the al-Shaab stadium on Thursday morning, reports say.

Many of the victims were civilians who were queuing up to buy kerosene.

In the Baab al-Sharji, the two roadside bombs went off shortly after 1000 local time (0700 GMT), police said.

At least 35 people were injured in the blasts.

Attacks on US and Iraqi troops and civilians had reached their highest level since Iraqi sovereignty was restored in June 2004, a recent Pentagon report said.

It said the number of attacks had risen to almost 1,000 a week in recent months.

The worst violence was in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar, long the focus of activity by Sunni insurgents.