- (Agencies) -- A car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police
patrol in southern Baghdad today, killing ten people and wounded four
others,
the US military said. The military said a car packed with 135kg of
explosives
blew up at about 11am local time (0900 BST) as an Iraqi police patrol drove
through the al-Dora neighbourhood. The blast killed a family of four
travelling
in a car nearby, four Iraqi labourers working in a palm grove, and two
other bystanders, the military said.
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- "This is an act of terrorists," said Lt Col
James Hutton, a spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division. "These attacks
kill innocent Iraqi people trying to live their lives in
peace."
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- Associated Press television footage showed two destroyed
police vehicles, a crater caused by the explosion, and a charred engine
believed to be that of the exploded car. Earlier reports had suggested
only one person died in the blast.
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- Elsewhere in Iraq, a British security guard was shot
dead in the northern city of Kirkuk, the foreign office said. The man has
not yet been named, but he worked for ArmorGroup, a security firm based
in London.
-
- The news came as US forces continued a wave of air and
ground assaults on the rebel-held city of Falluja after local officials
broke off peace talks and said US and Iraqi authorities were making
impossible
demands.
-
- Early this morning, air strikes were launched against
sites that US military officials said were being used as planning centres
for terrorist operations by senior associates of Jordanian militant Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.
-
- Earlier this week, the interim Iraqi prime minister,
Ayad Allawi, demanded that local officials hand over Zarqawi in order to
prevent strikes on the city. However, officials in Falluja suspended peace
talks yesterday, saying they could not be expected to locate and hand over
a man who even well-armed US forces had been unable to find.
-
- Iraqi police and witnesses reported that US troops
arrested
the city's chief negotiator today, Khaled al-Jumaili, and its police chief,
Sabar al-Janabi. Two other police officers were also detained. US military
officials claim Falluja is the base of operations for Zarqawi's Tawhid
and Jihad group, which claimed responsibility for the kidnap and murder
of British engineer Ken Bigley.
-
- Overnight, warplanes and artillery pounded the city,
which is 65km (40 miles) west of Baghdad, as two US marine battalions
attacked
rebel positions to "restore security and stability", First
Lieutenant
Lyle Gilbert, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told
CNN.
-
- Three people were killed and seven others injured during
the night, according to Dr Rafi'a Hiyad of Falluja general hospital.
Yesterday,
hospital staff said at least five people had been killed and 16
wounded.
-
- Operations against Sunni insurgent areas have been
stepped
up in recent weeks prior to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins
today. Last year, Ramadan was accompanied by a wave of violence.
-
- "The operations were designed to target the large
terrorist element operating in the area of Falluja," the US command
said. "This element has been planning to use the holy month of Ramadan
for attacks."
-
- The US military claimed it had destroyed several key
planning centres, a weapons storage facility, two safehouses, a terrorist
meeting site and several illegal checkpoints used by Zarqawi's
network.
-
- Tawhid and Jihad, which the US believes is based in the
city, claimed responsibility for yesterday's twin suicide bombings inside
Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone. At least six people, including
four US security contractors, were killed in the attacks.
-
- Negotiations had been aimed at restoring government
control
to Falluja, which fell under the control of clerics and their armed
followers
after the end of a three-week US siege in April.
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- "Since we exhausted all peaceful solutions, the
city is now ready to bear arms and defend its religion and honour and it
is not afraid of Allawi's statements," Abu Asaad, spokesman for the
mujahideen council of Falluja told al-Jazeera television.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq
- /Story/0,2763,1328581,00.html
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