BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A car bomb exploded outside a police station in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday, killing at least four people and injuring 34 others, police said. Clashes between U.S. troops and insurgents that left 10 dead and 27 wounded in Fallujah, west of the capital.
In central Baghdad, guerrillas set off a roadside bomb that killed two civilians and wounded two others, said Fawad Allah, an officer at Karradah police station.
The 8 a.m. blast in Mosul occurred when a four-wheel-drive vehicle sped into a restricted entrance outside the Summar police station. As guards opened fire, the vehicle came to a halt and exploded, said Abdella Zuheir, a policeman at the scene.
The bomb killed at least four people and wounded 34 others, police Lt. Leith Abdelqahar said. Saad Suleiman, an official at al-Salam hospital where most of the wounded were taken, said the dead included two police and two civilians. He said 46 were injured.
A U.S. military spokesman confirmed the attack and put the toll at three dead and 49 wounded. He said no coalition forces were involved.
Insurgents have been pressing a campaign to destabilize the interim government despite last month's transfer of sovereignty from the U.S. occupation authority. About 160,000 coalition troops, mostly Americans, remain in Iraq.
''We were expecting such terrorist attacks against us,'' Zuheir said. ''This is a cowardly act.''
Witnesses said the police station was damaged, along with five cars and several nearby shops. A nine-foot-wide crater could be seen at the site and shattered glass and debris littered the road. One policeman sat outside the station weeping.
In Fallujah, at least 10 people were killed and 27 wounded during fighting late Saturday and early Sunday in the eastern part of the city, hospital officials said.
Huge explosions were heard in Fallujah overnight as U.S. forces tried to enter the town, residents said. Fighting broke out on one of Fallujah's main streets and U.S. helicopters fired up to eight rockets into an industrial area, they said.
Dr. Wissam Abdul Rahman of Fallujah Hospital told The Associated Press 10 people died and 15 were injured. An official at another hospital, Dr. Hammadi al-Duleimi, said his medical center treated 12 wounded people.
The U.S. military had no comment.
In an earlier round of fighting in Fallujah on Thursday and Friday, U.S. forces said they killed 20 Iraqi insurgents. Hospital officials said 13 Iraqis, mainly women and children, died and 14 were injured.
Meanwhile, Iraqi militants said they kidnapped two Turks and threatened to behead them within 48 hours, the latest in the country's unrelenting wave of abductions. The news came late Saturday even as efforts intensified to free seven truck drivers taken captive by other insurgents.
The Tawhid and Jihad group of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi demanded the Turks' employers leave Iraq in a videotape aired on Al-Jazeera television, which showed three masked, black-garbed gunmen standing behind two seated men holding various forms of identification, including what apparently were Turkish passports.
Al-Jazeera identified the men as two Turkish truck drivers working for a Turkish company delivering goods to U.S. forces in Iraq. The network said the militants threatened to decapitate the men if their demands were not met.
Militants loyal to al-Zarqawi have claimed responsibility for a number of bloody attacks and beheadings of previous foreign hostages, including U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg, South Korean translator Kim Sun-il and Bulgarian truck driver Georgi Lazov.
In another abduction, a Lebanese citizen was snatched in Baghdad early Saturday, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
More than 70 foreigners have been kidnapped by insurgents in recent months in a campaign aimed at pushing out international troops and companies backing U.S. troops and reconstruction efforts. Many have been videotaped and paraded on TV screens surrounded by armed, masked men demanding their countries withdraw.
Mediators and officials expressed optimism Saturday for the release of seven hostages three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian held since July 21.
The kidnappers have threatened to kill one of the hostages if their employer, a Kuwaiti transport company, fails to meet their demands, including ending their work in Iraq.
Meanwhile, a Turkish driver abducted in Iraq on July 17 was freed in Mosul, northern Iraq, after promising his captors not to return, his niece Jihan Dayar told the AP.
Associated Press
In central Baghdad, guerrillas set off a roadside bomb that killed two civilians and wounded two others, said Fawad Allah, an officer at Karradah police station.
The 8 a.m. blast in Mosul occurred when a four-wheel-drive vehicle sped into a restricted entrance outside the Summar police station. As guards opened fire, the vehicle came to a halt and exploded, said Abdella Zuheir, a policeman at the scene.
The bomb killed at least four people and wounded 34 others, police Lt. Leith Abdelqahar said. Saad Suleiman, an official at al-Salam hospital where most of the wounded were taken, said the dead included two police and two civilians. He said 46 were injured.
A U.S. military spokesman confirmed the attack and put the toll at three dead and 49 wounded. He said no coalition forces were involved.
Insurgents have been pressing a campaign to destabilize the interim government despite last month's transfer of sovereignty from the U.S. occupation authority. About 160,000 coalition troops, mostly Americans, remain in Iraq.
''We were expecting such terrorist attacks against us,'' Zuheir said. ''This is a cowardly act.''
Witnesses said the police station was damaged, along with five cars and several nearby shops. A nine-foot-wide crater could be seen at the site and shattered glass and debris littered the road. One policeman sat outside the station weeping.
In Fallujah, at least 10 people were killed and 27 wounded during fighting late Saturday and early Sunday in the eastern part of the city, hospital officials said.
Huge explosions were heard in Fallujah overnight as U.S. forces tried to enter the town, residents said. Fighting broke out on one of Fallujah's main streets and U.S. helicopters fired up to eight rockets into an industrial area, they said.
Dr. Wissam Abdul Rahman of Fallujah Hospital told The Associated Press 10 people died and 15 were injured. An official at another hospital, Dr. Hammadi al-Duleimi, said his medical center treated 12 wounded people.
The U.S. military had no comment.
In an earlier round of fighting in Fallujah on Thursday and Friday, U.S. forces said they killed 20 Iraqi insurgents. Hospital officials said 13 Iraqis, mainly women and children, died and 14 were injured.
Meanwhile, Iraqi militants said they kidnapped two Turks and threatened to behead them within 48 hours, the latest in the country's unrelenting wave of abductions. The news came late Saturday even as efforts intensified to free seven truck drivers taken captive by other insurgents.
The Tawhid and Jihad group of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi demanded the Turks' employers leave Iraq in a videotape aired on Al-Jazeera television, which showed three masked, black-garbed gunmen standing behind two seated men holding various forms of identification, including what apparently were Turkish passports.
Al-Jazeera identified the men as two Turkish truck drivers working for a Turkish company delivering goods to U.S. forces in Iraq. The network said the militants threatened to decapitate the men if their demands were not met.
Militants loyal to al-Zarqawi have claimed responsibility for a number of bloody attacks and beheadings of previous foreign hostages, including U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg, South Korean translator Kim Sun-il and Bulgarian truck driver Georgi Lazov.
In another abduction, a Lebanese citizen was snatched in Baghdad early Saturday, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
More than 70 foreigners have been kidnapped by insurgents in recent months in a campaign aimed at pushing out international troops and companies backing U.S. troops and reconstruction efforts. Many have been videotaped and paraded on TV screens surrounded by armed, masked men demanding their countries withdraw.
Mediators and officials expressed optimism Saturday for the release of seven hostages three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian held since July 21.
The kidnappers have threatened to kill one of the hostages if their employer, a Kuwaiti transport company, fails to meet their demands, including ending their work in Iraq.
Meanwhile, a Turkish driver abducted in Iraq on July 17 was freed in Mosul, northern Iraq, after promising his captors not to return, his niece Jihan Dayar told the AP.
Associated Press
