Militants Kill Five in Iraq Bombing
BAGHDAD, Iraq – As militants sprayed guards with gunfire, a suicide bomber in a minibus sped toward a police station south of Baghdad and blew himself up Thursday, an attack that killed five people and wounded 27, the Interior Ministry said.
The attack was part of a spike in violence across the country. Clashes between U.S. troops and loyalists of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr killed two people and wounded eight in Najaf on Thursday, Health Ministry officials said. To the north, in Mosul, battles between Iraqi forces and insurgents killed at least 14 civilians and eight militants Wednesday, the U.S. military said.
The fighting in Mosul was the fiercest there in months, and local authorities said insurgents appeared to be testing the police. No Iraqi or coalition forces were killed, the U.S. military said. Iraqi authorities said 17 people had been killed and 47 wounded, more than the U.S. tally.
The vehicle bombing in Mahawil, 53 miles south of Baghdad, saw the bus approach and the two gunmen hop out and open fire on the police station. They escaped, while the bomber inside the bus died in the bomb explosion.
“At 8:30 this morning, a minibus approached Mahawil police station with three people inside,” said Sabah Kadhim, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. “Two of them got out and opened fire on the guards, while the driver carried on toward the police station and blew up.”
Insurgents have repeatedly targeted police as part of their campaign to destabilize the interim government – killing 710 from April 2003 to May 2004. The guerrillas see police as collaborators with the American-led coalition forces.
Al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army attacked a police station in Najaf’s Revolution of 1920 Square with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles early Thursday morning. Clashes broke out between the militia and Iraqi police, prompting U.S. Marines to enter the area, residents said.
Gunfire and explosions still reverberated in the holy city Thursday.
Najaf’s governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, told the Al-Jazeera satellite channel that the U.S. Marines intervened “to help the policemen protect the police stations and the city.” Al-Zurufi said armed militias attacked the police station at about 1:50 a.m. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
Al-Zurufi warned of “very bad consequences” if the militiamen did not disarm and leave the holy city.
The new fighting, the fiercest in weeks, threatens a fragile cease-fire between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and U.S. authorities.
In the southern city of Basra, militants loyal to al-Sadr threatened Thursday to attack British forces in the area unless they freed four men detained in a raid on al-Sadr’s party’s office in Basra two days before.
“Otherwise the Mahdi army will confront the British forces, enter the city and take over important government buildings,” said Salam al-Maliki, a spokesman for al-Sadr’s Mahdi army militia.
The British said they hadn’t received a formal ultimatum, “only rhetoric,” said Maj. Ian Clooney. He said the men had been detained for further questioning, and did not elaborate.
On Tuesday, police said that al-Sadr’s militias had kidnapped police officers apparently to use as leverage to force authorities to release militants being detained. His group denied the accusations, saying police were provoking al-Sadr’s supporters by trying to arrest some of the group’s leaders.
Insurgents have kidnapped scores of foreign hostages to force foreign companies and coalition troops from Iraq. In an effort to save the hostages, several companies have said they would stop their work here, and last month the Philippines withdrew its 51-member troop contingent to secure the freedom of a Filipino truck driver.
In a move to show kidnappers that none of the 31 other countries in the coalition would follow suit, the United States issued a statement Wednesday vowing not to make concessions to hostage-takers. Many of the other coalition members were expected to issue similar statements in the coming days, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
“We are united in our resolve to make no concessions to terrorists,” read the statement. “We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force, as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance,” it said.