Eight killed in Baghdad bombs and rocket fire

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed by bombs and rocket fire in Baghdad on Friday, police and medical sources said. They said a bomb exploded in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Al-Saydiya, in southern Baghdad, killing three civilians while two Katyusha rockets hit the nearby neighbourhood of al-Shurta, killing two people. Three more people were killed when another bomb exploded in Saba al-Bour neighbourhood in the north of the capital. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came as Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi's government battles Islamic State fighters who control large swathes of northern and western Iraq, and have sent bombers into the capital. On Tuesday, a string of deadly attacks killed at least 37 people. Police also discovered the bodies on Friday of six unidentified young men in Baghdad's northern al-Husseiniya district. The men, who had been shot dead, were blindfolded and their hands were tied behind their backs. (Reporting by Saif Hameed; Editing by Dominic Evans/Jeremy Gaunt)