Mon, Aug 02, 2004 page1

• At least two people die as bombs rock Baghdad churches

  • AP AND REUTERS
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  Suspected car bombs exploded outside two Baghdad churches last night, killing at least two people, the US military and medics said.

  The blasts destroyed cars and sent plumes of black smoke into the sky.

  The first bomb detonated outside an Armenian church in a busy neighbourhood of Baghdad populated by many Christians. The second blast, outside another Christian church, killed two people, an ambulance driver said.

  The US military said it had found the shell of a mortar near the site of the first explosion.The blasts appeared to have been car bombs, witnesses said.

  A car bomb exploded outside a police station in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul earlier yesterday, killing at least five people and injuring 53 others, police said.

  The blast followed a night of clashes between US troops and insurgents that left 10 dead and 27 wounded in the troubled city of Fallujah, west of the capital. Northwest of Baghdad, insurgents detonated a bomb late Saturday that wounded four US troops, who shot dead one attacker, the military said.

  In central Baghdad, guerrillas set off a roadside bomb yesterday that killed two civilians and wounded two others, said Fawad Allah, an officer at Karradah police station. The blast sent plumes of black smoke rising above Abu Nawas street, on the eastern banks of the Tigris River.

  The 8am blast in Mosul occurred when a white four-wheel drive vehicle sped into a restricted entrance outside the Summar police station, prompting guards to open fire, said Abdella Zuheir, a policeman at the scene. The vehicle then came to halt and exploded, he said.

  The bomb killed at least five people, including three police, said AbdelAzil Hafoudi, an officer at al-Salam hospital. He said 53 people were also wounded, among them 8 police.

  A US 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 months transfer of sovereignty from the US 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 also damaged, along with five cars and several nearby shops.

  A 3m-wide crater could be seen at the site and shattered glass and debris littered the road. The engine of one car lay overturned. One policeman sat outside the station weeping.

  In Fallujah, at least 10 people were killed and 27 wounded during fighting late Saturday and early yesterday in the eastern part of the city, hospital officials said.

  Huge explosions were heard in Fallujah overnight as US forces tried to enter the town, residents said.

  Clashes occurred on one of Fallujah's main streets and US helicopters fired up to eight rockets into an industrial area, they said. The US military said assailants firing mortars, machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades "repeatedly attacked a position held by Marines," who returned fire with tanks but suffered no casualties.

  Also see story:

  Indian envoy sent to Iraq to negotiate over hostages
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