Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By QAIS AL-BASHIR
Date: 23 August 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police headquarters
in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least one person, while British
officials said a barrage of mortars hit one of their bases in the south.
The suicide bomber in the northern city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles)
northwest of Baghdad, detonated his explosives belt at a checkpoint when he
tried to enter the police building, said Maj. Gen. Wathiq al-Hamdani, the
city police chief.
One woman was killed and 10 people were injured in the blast, he said.
Mosul, a predominantly Arab Sunni city, is 360 kilometers (225 miles)
northwest of the capital Baghdad, and has been the scene of frequent attacks
on Iraqi government facilities by Sunni insurgents.
To the south, in Amarah, 290 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a
barrage of 17 mortar rounds were fired at the British base of Camp Abu Naji
Tuesday, said Maj. Charlie Burbridge, spokesman for the British forces. One
British soldier was wounded, and was in hospital in stable condition, he
said.
One more mortar round landed at the camp on Wednesday morning, but did not
cause any injuries or damage.
Iraqi police had earlier reported that Katyusha rockets had been fired at
the base, but later said it was a mistaken assumption because they found
four rocket launchers near the base.
Burbridge said the camp, which has come under frequent attack over the past
three years, was being closed down "imminently, in the next couple of days,"
as Iraqi forces were in a position to take over security in the area.
British forces would be repositioned to the east of Amarah and would focus
on tackling smuggling, particularly of weapons, from across the border with
Iran, he said.
Amarah, 290 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Baghdad, is a predominantly
Shiite city where anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
wields considerable influence. British troops have come under frequent
attacks there.
"If two days go by without some kind of attack in the direction of the camp,
we'd be surprised," Burbridge said.
Also Wednesday, an Iraqi army officer, 1st Lt. Hassanein Saadi al-Zerjawi,
29, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Amarah while a policeman was
shot dead in a similar incident Tuesday night in Al-Hay, north of Amarah,
police said.
A roadside bomb missed a U.S. military convoy in Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40
miles) west of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing two pedestrians and injuring
12, said police Lt. Ahmed Salim in the town.
The shooting and the missile attacks are part of the political and sectarian
violence sweeping Iraq, which last month claimed 3,500 lives, making July
the deadliest month since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Since then, Sunni Arab insurgents have been regularly attacking U.S. and
Iraqi troops, mostly in the Baghdad area and in the Anbar province to its
west. Since February, Iraq has also been wracked by fighting between Sunni
and Shiite extremists, raising fear that the country is heading toward an
all-out civil war.
Byline: By QAIS AL-BASHIR
Date: 23 August 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police headquarters
in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least one person, while British
officials said a barrage of mortars hit one of their bases in the south.
The suicide bomber in the northern city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles)
northwest of Baghdad, detonated his explosives belt at a checkpoint when he
tried to enter the police building, said Maj. Gen. Wathiq al-Hamdani, the
city police chief.
One woman was killed and 10 people were injured in the blast, he said.
Mosul, a predominantly Arab Sunni city, is 360 kilometers (225 miles)
northwest of the capital Baghdad, and has been the scene of frequent attacks
on Iraqi government facilities by Sunni insurgents.
To the south, in Amarah, 290 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a
barrage of 17 mortar rounds were fired at the British base of Camp Abu Naji
Tuesday, said Maj. Charlie Burbridge, spokesman for the British forces. One
British soldier was wounded, and was in hospital in stable condition, he
said.
One more mortar round landed at the camp on Wednesday morning, but did not
cause any injuries or damage.
Iraqi police had earlier reported that Katyusha rockets had been fired at
the base, but later said it was a mistaken assumption because they found
four rocket launchers near the base.
Burbridge said the camp, which has come under frequent attack over the past
three years, was being closed down "imminently, in the next couple of days,"
as Iraqi forces were in a position to take over security in the area.
British forces would be repositioned to the east of Amarah and would focus
on tackling smuggling, particularly of weapons, from across the border with
Iran, he said.
Amarah, 290 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Baghdad, is a predominantly
Shiite city where anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
wields considerable influence. British troops have come under frequent
attacks there.
"If two days go by without some kind of attack in the direction of the camp,
we'd be surprised," Burbridge said.
Also Wednesday, an Iraqi army officer, 1st Lt. Hassanein Saadi al-Zerjawi,
29, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Amarah while a policeman was
shot dead in a similar incident Tuesday night in Al-Hay, north of Amarah,
police said.
A roadside bomb missed a U.S. military convoy in Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40
miles) west of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing two pedestrians and injuring
12, said police Lt. Ahmed Salim in the town.
The shooting and the missile attacks are part of the political and sectarian
violence sweeping Iraq, which last month claimed 3,500 lives, making July
the deadliest month since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Since then, Sunni Arab insurgents have been regularly attacking U.S. and
Iraqi troops, mostly in the Baghdad area and in the Anbar province to its
west. Since February, Iraq has also been wracked by fighting between Sunni
and Shiite extremists, raising fear that the country is heading toward an
all-out civil war.