A booby-trapped car went off Thursday near a local market northeastern Babil province in southern Iraq.

Three passers-by were injured in the explosion, said security and local sources.

Eyewitnesses said that the driver was forced to park the booby-trapped car outside the market because of a security checkpoint there.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, police troops clashed with militants who attempted to take control of an under-construction government building and turn it into a military outpost.