BAGHDAD, Sept 24: A bomb explosion in Baghdad on Wednesday killing an Iraqi and wounded 21 others, amid more attacks on US troops, while outside the capital, two more Iraqis were killed after US troops opened fire during a house-to-house search at a village near Baqubah.

The blast hit a white minivan on Al Imam Al Adaam Street, a main route through central Baghdad, shortly after a US patrol passed through, witnesses said.

The bus was split open after it crashed into a tree on the road, lined with shops and restaurants, and the blast shattered the windows of a second minivan.

Ahmad Shukair, a policeman at the scene, said one person was killed and 21 wounded, four of them seriously, by the bomb planted on a divider.

A spokesman for the US military said no soldiers were hurt in the blast.

“A minivan bus was hit by shrapnel and crashed into a tree in the middle of the road. The driver was killed on the spot and passengers wounded,” Shukair said. He said people were also wounded in the second minivan.

Ziad al Rubeii, 42, owner of a nearby furniture shop whose windows were shattered, said American soldiers regularly patrol the street, located just a few hundred metres from a US base in the former presidential palace.

“The bomb was aimed at the Americans but by mistake hit Iraqis,” he said.

Mohammed Saddam, 23, who works next door, said “the explosion went off a few seconds after an American patrol passed by on the other side of the street”.

Ali Sattar, 37, said the US patrol was in front of a school about 100 metres away when the bomb went off, “leaving a gaping hole”.

SHOOTING: In Baqubah, 66kms north of Baghdad, US troops shot at three people after they tried to run away from the Americans during a house-to-house search in a village.