144 killed in Baghdad serial blasts

In a single attack of war, three suicide car bombers and two mortar attacks shook Baghdad's Sadr City Shiite slum today, killing at least 144 people and wounding 236 others, many of them seriously, the police said.

The bombs and mortar shells struck at 15 minute intervals beginning at about  3 pm, with the first suicide bombing striking a vegetable market.

Angry residents and armed militiamen flooded the streets. Police said the death toll was expected to rise significantly.