At least seven people have been killed and up to 19 wounded, none of them US troops, when a car bomber struck at an entrance to the Green Zone in central Baghdad. A police officer who declined to be identified said the blast occurred when a car that had been waiting in line to enter the zone at the western Harithiya gate exploded as it drove up to the checkpoint on Monday morning. Several other vehicles were also destroyed in the blast. The blast, at 9am (0600 GMT), just when many Iraqis were going to work in the zone, shook buildings across Baghdad. Staff at the city's Yarmuk hospital, where civilian casualties are generally taken, said they had received seven bodies and were treating 17 people for injuries. A US military spokeswoman said no one from the American-led forces was wounded or killed in the attack. "There were no multinational personnel wounded or killed. There were Iraqis but we are waiting for the exact toll. There were several civilian cars destroyed. Firefighters are on the scene," the spokeswoman said. Reuters journalists at the scene saw smoke pouring from the area, which had been sealed off by US troops. Helicopters were circling overhead. **British consulate attacked*** The international zone that houses Iraq's interim government and foreign embassies has been the scene of frequent attacks by forces opposed to the US-backed interim Iraqi government over the past 18 months. In the southern city of Basra, mortars have been fired at the British consulate there, but details on damages were not immediately clear, a British embassy spokesperson said on Monday. The attack happened late on Sunday in Basra, 550km southeast of Baghdad, Victoria Whitford said. **Translator shot*** Also on Monday, unknown gunmen shot an Iraqi translator working for US forces in the northern city of Kirkuk, severely wounding him and also killing a passerby, police said. The attack happened at about at about 8am (0500 GMT) in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Colonel Anwar Hasan said. Translators and Iraqis working in other support occupations for the American army have been routinely targeted by those who view them as collaborators of the US-led occupation. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Clouds of smoke over Falluja, 50 kms west of Baghdad, December 13, 2004. At least seven U.S. Marines were killed in two incidents on Sunday in Anbar province, which includes Falluja and Ramadi. REUTERS)