Bomb damages third Iraqi bridge

Insurgents today bombed an Iraqi bridge, badly damaging a span over the main north-south highway leading from Baghdad, police reported.

The attack occurred 35 miles south of Baghdad and just six miles south of a bridge brought down on Sunday by what was believed to be a suicide truck bomber. Three US soldiers guarding that bridge were killed in Sunday’s blast.

The explosion at 7.30am local time today – not thought to be a suicide bomb - struck a bridge linking the villages of al-Qariya al-Asriyah and al-Rashayed in northern Babil province. No injuries were reported.

About 60% of the bridge was damaged, and cars could still pass over it via one lane, police said.

But debris from the blast fell on the main north-south expressway below, further complicating efforts to reopen that main artery, closed after Sunday’s blast dropped masses of concrete onto the roadway.

Yesterday, a parked truck bomb destroyed a bridge carrying traffic over the Diyala River in Baqouba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad.

There were no casualties, but vehicles were being forced to detour to a road running through al-Qaida-controlled territory to reach important nearby cities.