A suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with TNT and toxicchlorine gas crashed into a police checkpoint in western Ramadi on Friday,killing at least 27 people and wounding dozens, police in the Anbar provincialcapital said.
In the deep south of the country, the
Two more of the bombs were discovered planted along routesheavily traveled by
The bombing in Anbar province marked the ninth use of suicide chlorine bombsin the sprawling, mainly desert territory that has been a stronghold of theSunni insurgency.
Police Maj. Mohammed Mahmoud al Nattah, member of the Anbar Salvationcouncil, told state-run Iraqiya television the bomber hit a residential complexand dozens of wounded were taken to the Ramadi hospital.
Police opened fire as the suicide car bomber sped toward a checkpoint, threemiles west of the city, according to police Col. Tariq al-Dulaimi. Nearbybuildings were heavily damaged and police were searching the rubble for morevictims.
Dr. Hameed Jaafi, the director of Diwaniyah Health Directorate, said anAmerican helicopter fired on a house in the Askari neighborhood, seriouslywounding 12 people as the early morning assault began.
Bleichwehl said there were no
Also Thursday, the
An Iraqi army official, speaking on condition of anonymity because ofsecurity concerns, said the helicopter crashed after coming under fire near theSunni insurgent stronghold of Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The
It was the ninth
The four British soldiers — including two women — were killed Thursday asthe American military announced the deaths of eight more
The
One