• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Gunmen kill 11 Iraqis in attack on minibus: police

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 06:49 CDT

BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a minibus near the Iraqi city of Baquba on Wednesday, killing 11 civilians in the volatile area northeast of Baghdad, police said.

The 11 dead were among a group of people traveling to work at an electrical equipment factory on the outskirts of Baquba, Lieutenant Colonel Salman al-Dahlagi said.

He said the gunmen had stopped the minibus, forced the passengers to get out and then shot the men among them.

Television footage showed the mangled remains of the vehicle by the side of the road. An Iraqi military officer at the scene said the gunmen had blown up the minibus after the attack.

Police corrected an earlier account of the incident in which they quoted a witness saying people were killed when a booby- trapped car blew up.

Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, 40 miles from Baghdad, has seen considerable violence on the part of Sunni Arab guerrillas in the past year. The city's population is mixed with large populations of Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds.

Also in Baquba on Wednesday, gunmen killed a detective lieutenant-colonel and his two bodyguards, police said. Kanan Hasan, a deputy of the head of criminal intelligence in the city, and his bodyguards were shot dead on his way to work.

The U.S. military said its forces and Iraqi troops seized weapons and detained 24 suspected insurgents in coordinated raids near Baquba on Tuesday.

The confiscated material included surface-to-air rockets, ammunition and $4,000 in U.S. cash, a U.S. statement said.

"We are working to establish conditions to get more control of the region," U.S. Major John DiGiambattista said in the statement.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category