Car bomb detonation kills 10, injures 40
The prime minister said he would create a new security service geared toward halting the insurgency.
Police apparently thwarted an attack in Karbala, where police chased a car after receiving a tip it was filled with explosives. The two militants inside detonated their bomb, killing only themselves and causing no other casualties.
On Wednesday, a suicide attacker in Baghdad killed at least 10 people in a car bombing near Iraqi government headquarters and insurgents assassinated a provincial governor in an ambush of his convoy.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said the General Security Directorate "will annihilate those terrorist groups, God willing."
At a news conference, Allawi said he had asked Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Morocco and Egypt to contribute troops to the multinational force here to help him secure the country. He also announced that he would be going on his first foreign tour as prime minister to nearby Arab countries.
The attack in Haditha, known as a stronghold of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime, hit a government complex that houses the police station, civil defence headquarters and the municipal building.
In addition to the 10 killed, the blast wounded 40 people, Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdel-Rahman said.
Police and government officials have repeatedly been targeted by insurgents, who view them as lackeys of US forces.
The new security service appears to be another step in the fledgling government's efforts to tackle the violence, which has wracked the country since the fall of Saddam's regime 15 months ago and has continued since the United States handed over power.
In remarks published in the al-Hayat newspaper, Allawi was quoted as saying Iraq has arrested operatives linked to al-Qaida. It is seeing increased coordination between the terror network and Iraqi insurgents loyal to Saddam.
He said that among al-Qaida operatives arrested by Iraqi forces were the driver of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian linked to al-Qaida who is accused of attacks and kidnappings in Iraq and elsewhere.
Allawi also said millions of dollars are being channeled by Saddam loyalists in neighbouring countries to operatives with al-Qaida links in Iraq, such as al-Zarqawi's group, to carry out terror attacks.
Since taking power two weeks ago, Allawi's government has made clear it intended to crack down on militants who have caused chaos with assassinations, bombings and sabotage.
The government has passed emergency measures giving Allawi the power to declare curfews and impose limited martial law.
Insurgents detonated a massive car bomb on Wednesday at a checkpoint just outside the so-called Green Zone, former home to the US occupation government and current site of Iraq's interim government and the US and British embassies. The blast ripped a crater in the road and killed 10 Iraqis, many as they waited in line to apply for government jobs, the Health Ministry said. The US military said 11 were killed.
Hours later, insurgents tossed hand grenades and fired machine guns at a convoy transporting Nineveh Gov Osama Youssef Kashmoula, killing him and two of his guards, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said. Four attackers also were killed in the ambush north of Baghdad, officials said.
