BAGHDAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Two car bombs blasted near an Iraqi Interior Ministry building in Baghdad on Friday, killing at least two Iraqis and wounding some 40 others, said a source from the ministry.

    "Two car bombs went off successively near an Interior Ministry building in the al-Jadriyah Shelter, where the US troops discovered detainees allegedly tortured," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    "Initial police reports said that at least two people were killed and about 40 others wounded. They were civilians, security guards and employees from a nearby al-Hamra'a Hotel," said the source.

    He added that the two blasts were so powerful, and one of them occurred between the ministry building and the al-Hamra'a Hotel.

    It also destroyed several surrounding buildings. Earlier, the US troops said that some 173 detainees were discovered in a shelter on Sunday night when a US force raided an area in Baghdad's central neighborhood of Jadriyah. The detainees were found in an underground lock-up, many of them were beaten, malnourished and apparently tortured. Enditem