Ten Iraqis killed by car bomb as US begins troop withdrawal

A CAR bomb killed 10 Iraqis, including six policemen, near the volatile northern city of Mosul yesterday, as US combat troops prepared to withdraw from urban centres today.

Most Iraqis are hailing the US pullback as a milestone on their country's road to sovereignty, six years after the US military invaded to topple Saddam Hussein.

But a string of bombings in Baghdad and northern Iraq in recent days, including two of the bloodiest attacks for more than a year, have shaken confidence in their security forces.