BAGHDAD, Dec 14: A suicide car bomber struck an entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone government compound on Tuesday, 24 hours after an almost identical attack at the same checkpoint on the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's arrest.

Hospital staff said 12 civilians were wounded, five of them seriously. Some of the wounded spoke of others blown to pieces. No Americans were hurt, a US military spokesman said.

"I saw a Kia car drive through the checkpoint and it exploded," said bus driver Mohammed Kathem as he lay wounded at the civilian Yarmuk hospital after the Green Zone bombing. "Two of the people standing next to me were killed. I saw them cut to pieces," said another wounded man. -Reuters