Maybe after the election things will calm down. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Tipster lures Iraqi police to house bomb, 28 killed
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Posted: 8:43 AM EST (1343 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 28 people, including several Iraqi police officers, died when a house exploded in western Baghdad Tuesday night, Baghdad police said.
Initial evidence suggested the police walked into a trap set by insurgents who lured them into the house with an anonymous call after a nearby gun battle, which started about 8:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET).
Iraqi police said 28 people died in the blast, but the number of police officers among the dead is uncertain. The U.S. military said at least four police officers were killed, but a Baghdad police official put the number at nine.
Police decided to enter the house two hours after the anonymous caller told them it was an insurgent hideout, a police official said.
Explosives inside the house ignited just as police entered it, killing the police and civilians, a police official said.
The house was in the Ghazaliya neighborhood of western Baghdad, the location of frequent clashes with insurgents.
An Interior Ministry official said 21 people were hurt and three other houses were destroyed.
A U.S. military statement said it is believed between 1,700 to 1,800 pounds of explosives were rigged to go off inside the house.
In earlier attacks, insurgents killed 18 Iraqi police and five Iraqi troops in three Iraq cities Tuesday, nearly a month shy of the nation's scheduled elections.
The attacks came one day after an audiotape believed to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on Iraqis to support Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror campaign in Iraq.
Near Tikrit, insurgents killed 12 Iraqi police officers and destroyed the Um Kashifa police station, U.S. military officials said.
Also near Tikrit, insurgents attacked a police checkpoint, killing one Iraqi police officer and wounding two others, according to Capt. Bill Coppernoll of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division.
Four attacks on police checkpoints near Balad, about 50 miles south of Tikrit, killed five Iraqi police officers and wounded three, Coppernoll said.
Six miles south of Baquba, a suicide car bomber targeted Iraqi national guard troops at a traffic circle as they were working on the aftermath of an earlier roadside bombing, the U.S. military said.
The attacks began when a roadside bomb wounded three soldiers with an Iraqi national guard convoy near the Maffrak traffic circle in the Mualemeen neighborhood, the military said.
A second roadside bomb was found at the attack scene and an Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to remove it.
As the removal team worked, the suicide car bomber drove through a security cordon, setting off the vehicle bomb, killing a civilian and wounding 26 other people.
The Maffrak traffic circle has been a frequent scene of clashes between insurgents and coalition forces.
In Baghdad, a suicide car bomber targeted a top officer of Iraq's national guard as he was leaving his home for work, an Iraqi police official said.
The parked car bomb exploded near a gas station, killing its driver and wounding five Iraqi civilians, the U.S. military and Iraqi police said.
Tipster lures Iraqi police to house bomb, 28 killed
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Posted: 8:43 AM EST (1343 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 28 people, including several Iraqi police officers, died when a house exploded in western Baghdad Tuesday night, Baghdad police said.
Initial evidence suggested the police walked into a trap set by insurgents who lured them into the house with an anonymous call after a nearby gun battle, which started about 8:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET).
Iraqi police said 28 people died in the blast, but the number of police officers among the dead is uncertain. The U.S. military said at least four police officers were killed, but a Baghdad police official put the number at nine.
Police decided to enter the house two hours after the anonymous caller told them it was an insurgent hideout, a police official said.
Explosives inside the house ignited just as police entered it, killing the police and civilians, a police official said.
The house was in the Ghazaliya neighborhood of western Baghdad, the location of frequent clashes with insurgents.
An Interior Ministry official said 21 people were hurt and three other houses were destroyed.
A U.S. military statement said it is believed between 1,700 to 1,800 pounds of explosives were rigged to go off inside the house.
In earlier attacks, insurgents killed 18 Iraqi police and five Iraqi troops in three Iraq cities Tuesday, nearly a month shy of the nation's scheduled elections.
The attacks came one day after an audiotape believed to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on Iraqis to support Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror campaign in Iraq.
Near Tikrit, insurgents killed 12 Iraqi police officers and destroyed the Um Kashifa police station, U.S. military officials said.
Also near Tikrit, insurgents attacked a police checkpoint, killing one Iraqi police officer and wounding two others, according to Capt. Bill Coppernoll of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division.
Four attacks on police checkpoints near Balad, about 50 miles south of Tikrit, killed five Iraqi police officers and wounded three, Coppernoll said.
Six miles south of Baquba, a suicide car bomber targeted Iraqi national guard troops at a traffic circle as they were working on the aftermath of an earlier roadside bombing, the U.S. military said.
The attacks began when a roadside bomb wounded three soldiers with an Iraqi national guard convoy near the Maffrak traffic circle in the Mualemeen neighborhood, the military said.
A second roadside bomb was found at the attack scene and an Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to remove it.
As the removal team worked, the suicide car bomber drove through a security cordon, setting off the vehicle bomb, killing a civilian and wounding 26 other people.
The Maffrak traffic circle has been a frequent scene of clashes between insurgents and coalition forces.
In Baghdad, a suicide car bomber targeted a top officer of Iraq's national guard as he was leaving his home for work, an Iraqi police official said.
The parked car bomb exploded near a gas station, killing its driver and wounding five Iraqi civilians, the U.S. military and Iraqi police said.
