Six US soldiers killed as violence in Iraq escalates

BOMBING and shooting attacks west of Baghdad killed six US troops and a suicide car bomber slammed into a truck carrying Iraqi policemen near the airport yesterday, killing at least eight and wounding 25 - the latest wave of violence aimed at derailing Iraq’s advancing political process.

The attacks came as Shi’ite politicians completed efforts to include the disaffected Sunni Arab minority in the work of drafting Iraq’s new constitution.

Senior members of the Shi’ite-dominated committee writing the charter reached agreement with the Sunnis on how many representatives the minority will have on the body.