Suicide bomber kills 12 in police station attack

A SUICIDE car bomber ploughed into policemen waiting to collect their salary at a police station west of Ramadi yesterday, killing 12 people in the latest insurgent attack on Iraq’s beleaguered security forces.

At least 10 people were wounded in the blast, and 90% of the casualties were policemen, said Nazar al-Hiti, a doctor in the town of Hit around 155 miles west of Baghdad, where the dead and wounded were taken.

Two American soldiers were also killed and three were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in north-western Baghdad.

Another American soldier died and two were injured in a vehicle accident in eastern Iraq, the military said.

Insurgents trying to drive out US-led troops and topple the American-backed government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi have repeatedly attacked Iraqi police and soldiers, and the US military has warned that violence will worsen in Iraq as elections scheduled for January 30 approach. Leading Sunni Arab political parties have urged a delay in the elections, saying their supporters will not be able to vote freely due to guerrilla violence mainly in Sunni areas of Iraq.

Sunni Arabs make up only around 20% of Iraq’s population but dominated the ruling elite during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Several Sunni parties say they will boycott the elections unless the government agrees to a postponement. However, parties representing Iraq’s 60% Shi’ite majority, oppressed under Saddam, are demanding the polls go ahead on time to cement their political dominance in the new Iraq. Backed by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most revered religious leader, Shi’ite parties have refused to accept any delay, saying that would mean giving in to guerrilla violence.

The US military has said it will move into rebel-held areas by the end of the year to pacify them ahead of the elections. Earlier this month, a major US offensive crushed guerrillas in the insurgent bastion of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

US Marines, British troops and Iraqi forces have also launched an operation to hunt down insurgents and criminals in a cluster of lawless towns on the Euphrates just south of Baghdad.

Marines said they killed several insurgents and captured 32 suspects in a series of actions south of Baghdad on Sunday that included a high-speed riverborne raid on suspected weapons dumps on the Euphrates. Two Marines were killed in the area Sunday.