Iraq bomb attack kills two

A car bomb exploded near the Iranian Embassy today in Baghdad, killing at least two civilians and wounding five, police said.

The blast occurred during morning rush hour in a car park across the street from the embassy, a police official said. He said the two killed were civilians but the wounded included three embassy guards.

Elsewhere in the capital, a senior police official was wounded when a bomb stuck to his car exploded in a busy intersection.

A traffic policeman was killed and four other people were wounded in the attack, another police official said.

The violence underscored military warnings that insurgents remain a dangerous threat despite recent security gains that have pushed the number of Iraqi civilian casualties to their lowest levels in more than four years.

A suicide bomber also blew himself up at a police checkpoint late yesterday in the town of Hit, west of Baghdad, killing at least 10 people including the local police chief, and wounding 12, the town’s administrator Hikmat Jubeir said.

The US military confirmed that an attack in Hit had killed or wounded several police and civilians but could not immediately give more details. American troops were sent to the scene.

Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, is in Anbar province, which was the centre of the Sunni-led insurgency before local tribal leaders joined forces with the US military against al Qaida in Iraq, a key factor in a steep drop in violence nationwide.

The town itself was among a series of communities along the Euphrates River used by al Qaida and other insurgent groups to smuggle weapons, ammunition and fighters from Syria south-east toward Baghdad.

Citing security improvements, the US military turned over security responsibilities for the town to the Iraqi government on February 14, although American troops remained in the area to help when needed.

The US military, meanwhile, continued targeting Shiite militia fighters it says are members of Iranian-backed “special groups” that are defying a ceasefire order by anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

It has warned key leaders have fled to other areas as American and Iraqi forces closed in on them during operations in their main Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.

American troops acting on tips captured four suspected “special groups members” without violent resistance today in the Shiite district of Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad, the military said.

Those detained included a suspect accused of smuggling Iranian weapons, co-ordinating training of Iraqi militants in Iran, training others in sniper tactics and acting as a key mediator between militia leaders in western Baghdad, according to the military statement.

Ten al Qaida linked insurgents also were captured in US-led operations in Mosul and north of Baghdad today, the military said separately.

In another development, a US helicopter crashed Sunday south of Baghdad, wounding the two American soldiers who were aboard, the military said.

Preliminary indications point to mechanical failure as the cause of the crash, but an investigation will be conducted to determine what happened, the military said.