BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb near pet and vegetable markets in Baghdad killed 15 people and wounded another 40 on Wednesday, Iraqi security and medical officials said.

Several cars were damaged in the attack. Hours earlier, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint on a highway just south of Baghdad, killing four civilians and three policemen, a police officer and a medical official said. They said 24 people were wounded in the explosion.