A car bomb detonated near a US military convoy in western Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

"A car packed with explosives blew up at about 2:10 PM (10:10 GMT) near a passing US military convoy on the main road near Nafaqal-Shurta (Police Tunnel)," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Several shops and nearby buildings were damaged by the blast, the source said, adding the car was parking on the side of the road.

It was not clear whether there was any casualty among US soldiers or Iraqi civilians, as US troops cordoned off the area to prevent people and Iraqi police from approaching the scene.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)