Three US soldiers and 10 Iraqis were killed in three attacks in northern Iraq yesterday, most of them in a car bombing in Mosul which left part of a police station a smoldering ruin, as the country braced for more violence on the eve of a major Muslim holiday.
The American soldiers were travelling in a convoy that was attacked by a homemade bomb some 45km southwest of the oil center of Kirkuk at 10:15am, a US military spokesman said.
The deaths pushed to 249 the number of US combat fatalities in Iraq since US President George W. Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May 1.
PHOTO: EPA
In Mosul, a powerful suicide car bomb tore the front off a police station killing nine people and wounded 45, hospital officials and police said.
"Nine people were killed, including two policemen and seven civilians, and 45 wounded," said the head of the emergency room at the Mosul hospital, Najem Abdullah Shuaib.
He said four of the wounded, including some policemen, were in a serious condition.
Witness Mohammad Abdel Karim, 39, who works in the shop opposite the police station said that "an Opel sped up, got past the checkpoint and the driver blew up his car. There was an enormous explosion".
A chunk of the front of the police station was engulfed in flames and two rooms on the ground floor totally destroyed. Cement blocks placed to protect the police station crashed onto a car.
An Iraqi Turkmen party official was also shot dead and another wounded in an attack near Kirkuk, a police official said.
Mahdi Hussein Turkmani was killed and Hussein Abbas wounded by gunmen in the mostly Turkmen town of Taza, about 15km south of Kirkuk, police Colonel Turhan Yussef said.
The two men were identified as senior members of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, a group opposed to Kurds' demand of a federated state in northern Iraq.
Yesterday's deadly violence rocked Iraq after the Dutch embassy in Baghdad was struck by a grenade attack Friday night.
Dutch officials said flames engulfed the building, part of which was badly damaged by the attack, which occurred when it was unoccupied.
Dutch foreign ministry spokeswoman Martine de Haan said the attack was a deliberate strike against her country.
"The Netherlands was clearly targeted in this attack," she said in The Hague, which maintains some 1,200 troops in southern Iraq as part of the US-led coalition.
Senior coalition members in Iraq have warned the country could face an increase in guerrilla violence in coming days as millions of Muslims celebrate the Eid al-Adha feast of the sacrifice.
US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of coalition operations in Iraq, said preparations were being made to tackle any surge in unrest coinciding with Eid al-Adha, which begins either today or tomorrow across the Middle East.
Eid al-Adha, honors the prophet Abraham for his readiness to sacrifice his son Ishmael to God.
Police in Kirkuk said yesterday they were stepping up security after threats of a car bomb attack timed to coincide with the holiday.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS