Car bombs exploded in the parking lots of two luxury hotels in central Baghdad late on Thursday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30.<br /><br /> The first bomb targeted the Babylon hotel, where government officials often hold meetings and news conferences.<br /><br /> A few minutes later, a second one exploded near the Cristal Grand Ishtar – the former Sheraton – in an area which also includes a club and is crowded on Thursday nights.<br /><br /> Both hotels are popular with wealthy Iraqis and Westerners, including journalists and aid workers.<br /><br /> Earlier this year, Iraqi authorities lifted a decade-old night-time curfew on Baghdad, in an attempt to restore a sense of normalcy to the capital as security forces battle Islamic State militants who have taken over large parts of the country.<br /><br /> But the rate of bombings in Baghdad has increased since then.
