Two suicide car bombs killed 22 people in northern Iraq today in attacks targeting a police chief and a tribal leader working with US forces, part of an upsurge in violence that killed 56 across the country.
The spate of attacks across Iraq, which also wounded nearly 120 people, marked one of the bloodiest days during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Al Qaeda in Iraq has vowed to target officials and Sunni Arab tribal leaders who have joined the US military to combat the Sunni Islamist group, pledging to ramp up attacks in Ramadan, which is expected to finish on the weekend.
In Baghdad, guards escorting a convoy of vehicles killed two women when they opened fire on a car in the central district of Karrada, the government said. A Dubai-based security company, Unity Resources Group, said one of its teams was involved in a shooting in Karrada, but gave no details on casualties.
It was the second time a private contractor has been accused of killing Iraqi civilians in less than a month.
Anger at private security contractors is high in Iraq after a Sept. 16 shooting involving US firm Blackwater in which 17 people were killed. The latest shooting will likely heighten Iraqi calls for tighter controls over the scores of security firms in Iraq, which are immune from local law.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said today's shooting in Karrada was unprovoked.
"There has been an incident, an attack on civilians. Two Iraqi women were killed," Dabbagh said.
One witness said the guards fired a warning shot when a car carrying two women and children pulled out of a side road. But the driver edged forward and the security guards opened fire.
Unity Resources Group said it regretted the incident involving its security team.
"The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare," the firm said in a statement.
"Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped."
US embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo, referring to the incident, said "there may be a contractual relationship" with a US non-governmental organisation (NGO). She did not elaborate.