Six Killed After Baghdad Car Bomb (10 wounded near GreenZone)

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded next to an Iraqi police station just outside Baghdad's Green Zone on Saturday, killing six Iraqi policemen and wounding 10 in the second attack in two days targeting local security forces in the capital, an Iraqi security official said

The explosion occurred at about 9:30 a.m. near a checkpoint leading to the heavily fortified area, which houses the offices of the interim Iraqi government and several foreign missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

~snip~

A strong explosion was caused by a vehicle borne improvised explosive device," Callahan said. "Medical units are arriving at the scene now. We know there are some Iraqi casualties."


Iraqi police sealed off the area, barring reporters from the scene.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041204/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_explosion&cid=540&ncid=1480

[maddezmom]

1. conflicting info 2 dead, 35 wounded

~snip~
An Iraqi police source said he feared there were many dead. Officials at nearby Yarmuk hospital confirmed an initial two dead and 35 wounded from the blast but said numbers could rise.


The deafening blast shook the city center shortly after 9:30 a.m. and a thick column of black smoke rose from the site of the explosion, near a main entrance to the Green Zone, home to the interim Iraqi government and foreign embassies.


The thud of a machine gun could be heard immediately after the explosion, which a Western source said was probably caused by a suicide car bomber.


One survivor, policeman Rafid Khudeir, described the moments before the explosion:


"I was in the criminal investigation department and saw our guards open the gates for a police patrol. Then a white car followed them in and blew up outside our building," he told Reuters from his hospital bed, his head in bloody bandages.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041204/wl_nm/iraq_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

[maddezmom]

3. 1 soldier killed and another wounded Sat. near Baquba

MOSUL FIREFIGHT


In other violence, one U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded on Saturday when a roadside bomb hit their convoy near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.


The attack raised to at least 990 the number of U.S. troops killed since the war was launched last year.

[maddezmom]

2. CNNInternational saying 15 killed and 50 wounded in 2 Baghdad car

bombings

[maddezmom]

4. killing seven people and wounding 59, mostly police.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=1&u=/ap/20041204/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[maddezmom]

5. Iraq Suicide Attacks Kill 14, Injure 59 (2 US soldiers killed, 2 wounded)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide attackers carried out a string of car bombings against Iraqi policemen in Baghdad and Kurdish militiamen in the north, killing 14 people and wounding at least 59 on Saturday in the latest major assaults on Iraqi security forces and U.S. allies in the country.


Two U.S. soldiers were killed by roadside bombs Saturday, and two other Americans died in a suicide car bombing of their post near the Jordanian border the day before, the U.S. military said.


The attacks came after a day of increased violence Friday, when attacks in Baghdad and the north killed 30 Iraqis — most of them policemen — and two more American troops.


The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) acknowledged on Saturday that U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces, though increasing in number, are not yet up to the increasingly difficult task of keeping security during vital elections set for Jan. 30.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041204/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480