Iraq: At least 12 dead in blast, clashes; Another two US troops killed

Published December 24th, 2006 - 11:28 GMT

A suicide bomber killed at least seven policemen and injured 30 others at a police station northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, police said. The blast reported in Muqdadiyah, 55 miles northeast of the Iraqi capital.

 

After the initial explosion, the station came under attack from mortar rounds launched from the surrounding neighborhood, police said, according to the AP. In the same province about 30 minutes later, two roadside bombs went off next to one another in Khanaqin, about 90 miles northeast of Baghdad close to the Iranian border, police said. The coordinated attacks injured 18 civilians, some seriously.

 

Also Sunday, at least five police died in fighting with gunmen in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, the government said. Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that a curfew was in place.

 

Meanwhile, another two Anerican troops have been killed in Iraq, according the US military. One soldier died and four others were injured on Saturday when a bomb exploded southeast of Baghdad, targeting a combat patrol searching for "suspected terrorists," the military said, according to AFP.

 

The second soldier was killed when another bomb hit a patrol southwest of the capital on the same day. "As they conducted their mission, a roadside bomb exploded near one of their vehicles, killing one soldier," the military said.