BAGHDAD, Iraq, AP -A parked minivan exploded in a busy outdoor market in a Baghdad slum on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 16, police said.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt blew himself up in a home for the elderly in the southern city of Basra, killing two people and wounding three.

The minivan bombing occurred as people were shopping in the rundown district of Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite district in eastern Baghdad. Police Col. Hassan Chalob said four civilians were killed and seven cars were left charred.

The area has been targeted by attackers in the past. Bombs exploded in two markets there on March 12, killing at least 44 people.

The motive of the attack on the elderly home was unclear and an investigation was under way, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaida said. Two women were killed.

Tensions have been worsening in the Shiite-dominated area of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, which is about 340 miles southeast of Baghdad. Britain has about 8,000 soldiers in the city.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency there late last month, but it has failed to quell the rampant violence as rival Shiite militias fight each other for power.