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Iraq |
Bombs, shootings kill at least 16 across Iraq |
2007-01-16 |
![]() Also in Mosul, two gasoline black market vendors were killed in a drive-by shooting, another police official said. The attackers tossed a leaflet saying they would punish anyone selling fuel on the black market, the official said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. An off-duty policeman was also shot dead south of Mosul, said Ninevah police Brig Abdul Karim Khalaf. Besides the 16 people killed in violence on Monday, police said 30 bodies were found across the Iraqi capital, most with signs of torture. At least three bombs went off across Baghdad, Iraqi officials said, including one in which a suicide attacker drove into an Iraqi army checkpoint and killed four soldiers. Another three soldiers were wounded, and the explosion set fire to two military vehicles. A roadside bomb targeted a police car in southeastern Baghdad, killing three policemen and wounding two others, a police official said. That attack occurred during morning rush hour near a gas station in the Rustomiyah neighbourhood. A university administrator was abducted at gunpoint during an ambush on his car, and another roadside bomb injured two policemen and two civilians, police said. Also on Monday, Iraqi soldiers arrested 45 people and seized weapons and explosives in Mahmoudiyah south of Baghdad, an Iraqi army officer said. Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi said on Monday that British troops could withdraw from Iraq within a year provided Iraq’s own armed forces are reformed. “If British people would like their soldiers to withdraw we have no objection but ... we should have reform of (our) armed forces,” Hashimi told reporters during an official visit to London. Asked when he thought British troops could withdraw, Hashimi said: “Within one year if we go for this comprehensive reform plan. I am definitely sure that in one year we could complete the job properly.” Hashimi also told reporters that Iranian influence in Iraq was “deep and exceptional”. “We have plenty of evidence that Iran is becoming a major player in Iraq ... Wherever you go, you see their fingerprints,” he said. |
Posted by:Fred |