Iraqi soldiers killed by suicide bomb
A suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi military base in northern Iraq today in the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed at least 42 people nationwide.
In Baghdad, the US-protected Green Zone came under heavy fire by rockets or mortar rounds.
Seven people were also killed and 14 wounded in a suicide car bombing in the Shiite neighbourhood of Shula in the capital. The attacks underscored the fragility of Iraq’s security, despite a decline in violence over the past year.
In the northwestern city of Mosul, Iraqi security forces opened fire on the suicide bomber as he sped toward a military base but were unable to foil the attack because the truck’s windshield had been made bullet-proof, according to an Iraqi army officer.
The attacker blasted past an armoured vehicle to reach the courtyard of the military headquarters, the officer said.
Police said at least 13 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 42 people wounded – 30 soldiers and 12 civilians – in the attack. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been described by the US as the last urban stronghold of the Sunni-led al Qaida in Iraq.
Shiite extremists were suspected to be behind the barrages against the Green Zone, which houses the US and British embassies and the Iraqi government headquarters.
About 10 detonations were heard in the sprawling area in central Baghdad. Several other mortars or rockets slammed into the area throughout the day.
The US public address system in the Green Zone warned people to “duck and cover” and to stay away from windows following the attacks.
No casualties were reported inside but at least one Iraqi civilian was killed and four wounded outside the area by rounds that fell short, police said.
Weekend raids across Iraq also resulted in 17 insurgents killed and 30 detained, the US military said. The deadliest was an operation today targeting a suspected suicide bombing network east of Baqouba that killed 12 armed men, the military said.
Iraqi police reported a dozen civilians killed in an airstrike in the same area. But the military insisted those killed in the raid were insurgents, including six who had shaved their bodies apparently in preparation for suicide operations.
Five men with suspected ties to al-Qaida leadership also were killed Saturday near the border with Iran in northeastern Iraq, the military said.
In other violence today, a mortar attack killed eight, including two women and two children, in southeastern Baghdad, police said.
Gunmen opened fire on passengers waiting for buses in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad, killing at least seven men and wounding 16 other people, including women and children.
A police commander was shot dead along with his driver in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
A roadside bomb near the northern city of Tuz Khormato killed four Iraqi soldiers, including an officer.
