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| Iraq |
| Suicide bombers kill 7 at Iraqi ministry |
| 2006-01-09 |
| Jan 9, 2006 — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Iraq's Interior Ministry in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding 35, police and ministry sources said. Police said they were trying to establish how one of the bombers managed to get through a series of checkpoints in the heavily guarded compound before detonating his explosives. A ceremony celebrating the 84th anniversary of the formation of the Iraqi police force was taking place at the police academy next door to the ministry at the time of the blast. Among the dignitaries attending were the U.S. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Iraqi defense and interior ministers. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson, who was at the ceremony, denied an Iraqi state television report that a mortar bomb had hit the parade ground. "The blast could be heard in the distance, but no mortar hit the parade ground," he told Reuters. The ministry has been attacked by insurgents on several previous occasions, especially by Sunni Arab insurgents who accuse it of running Shi'ite militia who oppress the minority Sunni Arab community. The ministry denies such charges. In November, U.S. troops found a bunker run by the Interior Ministry containing 170 prisoners, mostly Sunni Arabs. Many showed signs of abuse and torture. |
| Posted by:Steve |