25 die as rebels target Iraqi policemen

A suicide car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi police academy during a graduation ceremony today, killing 20 people amid a surge in violence ahead of a landmark election.

Hours later, another blast killed five Iraqi policemen at a checkpoint.

The bloodshed brought the death toll to more than 90 in the last four days. Despite the insurgency – which US troops and Iraqi security forces have been helpless to prevent – American and Iraqi leaders insist the election will go forward on January 30 as scheduled.

“We will not allow the terrorists to stop the political process in Iraq,” Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said. “The elections process is the basis for the deepening of the national unity in Iraq.”

The explosion outside a gate of the police academy in Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, was the latest in a string of attacks against Iraqi security forces. Captain Hady Hatef said it killed at least 20 people, including civilians, and wounded unspecified number. He could not provide the breakdown.

Polish Lieutenant Colonel Artur Domanski, a spokesman for the multinational forces in Hillah, said that at least 10 policemen were killed and that 41 others were injured in the suicide attack. “I’m afraid that this number can increase,” he said.

In the restive city of Baqoubah, north-east of Baghdad, a suicide attacker rammed his car into a joint police and Iraqi National Guards checkpoint, killing five policemen and wounding eight other Iraqis. The driver of the vehicle was also killed.

The number of Iraqi policemen killed in the last four months of 2004 was 1,300 before today’s blasts, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry figures.

The Iraqi police and security troops represent a soft target for the insurgents because of their poor training and equipment compared to the US-led coalition forces. The militants consider Iraqi soldiers as collaborators with the American occupiers.

“Hostile force are still trying to harm and cause damages, but the Iraqi forces are becoming better and they have captured and killed some terrorists,” Allawi said.

He said that the Iraqi security forces recently arrested two aides of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who is believed to be leading the insurgency in Iraq.

“They were detained in Mosul along with three or four others and they have started confessing now to Iraqi security about the networks they run in order to harm our people,” Allawi said.

Earlier today, an explosives-filled car following a convoy of US and Iraqi troops blew up near a funeral procession for Baghdad’s assassinated governor. Two Iraqi civilians were killed and 10 wounded, police officials said. No troops were hurt.

Governor Ali al-Haidari, who was known for co-operating closely with US troops, was killed on Tuesday. It was not clear if today’s suicide car bomb was targeting the mourners, which included Iraqi officials, or the convoy of troops.

The Ansar al-Sunnah Army, a radical Islamic group with terrorist credentials, claimed responsibility for the attack. A statement posted on the Internet said the attack was a “martyrdom” operation.