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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Car bomber kills Iraqi commandos |
| 2005-03-25 |
| Eleven Iraqi special police commandos have been killed in a suicide car bombing at a joint US-Iraqi checkpoint in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. At least 14 other people, including two US soldiers, were injured in the attack on Thursday evening on the eastern edge of the town. Ramadi, 110km (68 miles) from Baghdad, is a hotbed of the insurgency. In a separate attack, five women were shot dead when their car came under fire in eastern Baghdad. US military officials said all five women - three of them sisters - worked at an American military base. Insurgents have frequently targeted Iraqis working for the US military. Checkpoints were set up at entrances to Ramadi last month to stop insurgents entering and carrying out attacks. But the barriers have increasingly become a focus for suicide bombers as other targets become harder to reach. The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says the latest attack comes after something of a lull in insurgent attacks, but amid uncertainty over Iraq's future political leadership. Negotiations between the political parties over the shape of the new Iraqi government have dragged on since the national election nearly two months ago. Tuesday saw Iraqi special forces, backed by US troops, kill dozens of insurgents in a raid on a training camp near the city of Tikrit. A 240-strong Iraqi commando unit was engaged in heavy fighting before seizing the camp, 160km (100 miles) north-west of Baghdad. |
| Posted by:Steve |