A suicide bomber exploded a car in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone today, killing three people and wounding six.
The bomber's vehicle entered the Green Zone, which houses the US and British embassies and the Iraqi government, by an entrance used by Iraqi employees, journalists and others.
Police said the car exploded as it was being searched at a checkpoint inside the zone. The attack came on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which has been marked by surges in violence in the past.
Those killed were two Iraqi soldiers and a civilian. The six wounded were four Iraqi soldiers and two policemen. The bomber had infiltrated a convoy to get in to the Green Zone.
It is not the first time bombers have managed to penetrate the vast area on the west bank of the Tigris river that used to be part of Saddam Hussein's palace complex.
Last October, on the eve of Ramadan, two al-Qaeda suicide bombers blew themselves up in a co-ordinated attack deep inside the zone, targeting a popular restaurant and a nearby street, killing five people, at least three of them Americans.