Two car bombs exploded in Baghdad Sunday morning, killing at least 11 and wounding 17, police said. Elsewhere, a Marine was killed Saturday in action in Anbar province, west of the capital, the US military said in a statement.
A minibus packed with explosives blew up near a downtown police academy, killing 10 people and the suicide bomber, Police Cap. Ali Ayez said at the scene. About 15 people were injured, The AP reported. The dead included three police academy students and a female officer, Ayez added.
Another car bomb went off near a small market in the area of the Culture Ministry, police Lt. Ahmed Hussain said at the scene. The explosion wounded at least one bystander. The bomb may have been aimed at a passing American convoy, Hussain conveyed.
One American soldier was wounded and evacuated to a medical facility.
Also in the capital, at least 17 people were killed in a suicide car bombing attack just north of the country's oil ministry, a ministry spokesman told AFP.
A black Korean-built car blew up as people headed to work, claiming the lives of seven women among the 17 dead, an official said.
Earlier, police and passers-by at the scene described the blast as a rocket attack that cost the lives of four people.
Also Sunday, clashes broke out between U.S. forces and Iraqi fighters in Hit, west of Fallujah, killing one Iraqi and injuring two, police 1st Lt. Muhsin Nassir said.
In Bagdad, an Iraqi intelligence officer was killed Sunday morning in a drive-by shooting, said Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman of the Interior Ministry. Three gunmen in a car opened fire on the man as he left his house to go to work, Abdul-Rahman said.
The attacks came as US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld arrived in an air field in Iraq's western desert Sunday morning on his first visit to the country since its interim government was installed in June.
Rumsfeld had breakfast with senior Marine leaders, including Lt. Gen. John Sattler, the top Marine in Iraq, and Major Gen. Keith Stalder, commander of the 3rd Marine Wing, which is based at Al Asad, one of the biggest air fields in the country, The AP reported.
Rumsfeld addressed Marines, saying "Our hope is that as we build up Iraqi forces we will be able to relieve the stress on our forces and see a reduction in coalition forces over some period of time, probably post-Iraqi election." "But again, it will depend entirely on the security situation here in this country."
It was Rumsfeld's sixth trip to Iraq but his first to Anbar province, which includes portions of the so-called Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
