15 Iraqis, Polish Soldier Killed, in an October 4, 2007 Report

Senior policeman, mayor, killed in two separate incidents north of Hilla

Babel - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Hilla, Oct 4, (VOI) -

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a senior police officer on Thursday morning north of the city of Hilla, while another armed group killed the mayor of a region at the center of the city, a police source said. "Unknown armed men opened fire on Brigadier Ihsan Abdul Karim in front of his house in al-Assriya village in al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla, while he was heading for work, killing him on the spot," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) under the condition of anonymity. "The dead officer was employed by the nationality department in Babel," he added. Meanwhile, the same source said that unidentified gunmen killed the mayor of al-Shawi region in central Hilla, while on his way back home. The source provided no further details. Hilla lies 70 km south of Baghdad.

SH/SR

Senior official, four companions killed in bombing attack in Babel

Babel - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Hilla, Oct 4, (VOI)-

The director of al-Askandariya district and four of his companions were killed while another one was injured in a bomb explosion on Thursday morning north of Hilla, a police source said. "An explosive charge went off this morning, targeting the motorcade of the director of al-Askandariya district, Abbas Hamza Hassan, north of Hilla," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The blast killed the official and four of his companions and injured one more," he added. "A number of nearby vehicles and houses were damaged due to the explosion," the source noted. Hilla, capital city of Babel province, is 70 km south of Baghdad.

SH/SR

Bomb leaves 10 casualties in southeastern Baghdad

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Baghdad, Oct 4, (VOI) -

At least three civilians were killed and seven more were injured in a bomb explosion on Thursday morning in southeastern Baghdad, a police source said. "A bomb placed inside a car went off on early Thursday amidst a gathering of civilians near a fuel station in al-Zaafaraniya region in southeastern Baghdad," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The explosion left three civilians dead and seven others injured, in addition to damaging a nearby civilian vehicle," he added. "Security forces sealed off the area and rushed the wounded to a nearby hospital," the source noted.

SH/SR

Scores killed, injured in Baghdad bus blast (4 below)

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Baghdad, Oct 4, (VOI) –

An explosive charge planted inside a bus in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of al-Waziriya was detonated, killing and injuring scores of individuals, an Iraqi police source said on Thursday.

No information was provided by the source about the number of casualties. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area immediately after the blast. The neighborhood is one of the most frequented neighborhoods by university students who pass by it on their way to the faculties of administration, economics, and political science, and the Iraqi Scientific Council. As part of its eight-month-old security plan in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Iraqi forces have staged an army checkpoint in the neighborhood to prevent violent acts.

SS/SR

Six Iraqi soldiers wounded in Diala attack

Diala - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Diala, Oct 4, (VOI)-

At least six Iraqi army troops were wounded on Thursday morning in an armed attack in Diala, central Iraq, a security source said. "Six Commandos soldiers were wounded, this morning, when they came under small-arms fire near al-Tahwilah village, southern Khalis," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source said "the attack occurred while the soldiers were wrapping up a security crackdown in the area." The attack also damaged an army vehicle, he added. Meanwhile, the same source said that a number of mortars landed into Khalis district, 15 km north of Ba'aquba, without human losses. Ba'aquba, capital city of Diala province, is 57 km northeast of Baghdad. SK

British base mortared in Basra

Basra - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Basra, Oct 4, (VOI)-

The British base in Basra city, southern Iraq, was mortared on Thursday morning, eyewitnesses said. "More than ten mortars were fired in the direction of the British base, today at dawn," a witness from a residential compound in the airport environs told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Sirens wailed more than once at the British base," he said. The British side could not be contacted immediately to learn whether there were casualties in the attack, the second of its kind after British forces left the former presidential palaces in central Basra last month. British soldiers are stationed in one base now – the Basra International Airport – after handing over the former presidential palaces, which they took as a military base, to the Iraqi forces. The British forces in Basra, 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, keep 5,250 troops within the Multi-National Forces in Iraq after withdrawing 1,850 soldiers during the past few months. Britain was the United States' prime ally in the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. SK

Two gunmen killed, six detained in Diala

Diala - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 04 /10 /2007 Time 3:26:06

Diala, Oct 4, (VOI)-

Iraqi security forces killed two gunmen, believed to be from al-Qaeda, and detained six more during a security crackdown in Diala, central Iraq, a security source said. "An Iraqi force launched a wide-scale military operation, on Wednesday evening, in Baladruz district, killing two al-Qaeda fighters and detaining six more," General Abdul Karim al-Rubaie, Diala operations Commander, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The Iraqi commander added "a weapons and ammunitions cache was found during the operation." Baladruz district is 45 km southeast of Baaquba. Meanwhile, General al-Rubaie said that Iraqi forces regained control over Baaquba city, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, after clashes erupted on Wednesday morning between police forces and gunmen in the city. Al-Rubaie told VOI that "three civilians were killed and two were wounded in the clashes." SK

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AP Headline: Roadside Bomb Kills Iskandariyah Mayor; Car Bomb Kills 4, Wounds 8 in Baghdad

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN Associated Press Writer

Oct 4, 2007, 6:43 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) --

The mayor of the Iraqi town of Iskandariyah was killed along with four of his guards in a roadside bomb attack Thursday, police said.

Abbas Hassan Hamza, who belonged to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party, was killed about 10:30 a.m. as he headed to work about 30 miles south of Baghdad, according to a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Hamza's convoy was targeted by the blast, which also wounded a fifth guard, police said.

In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near people on line at a gas station, killing four civilians and wounding eight others, police said.

The device had been placed in a car parked about 110 yards from the station in the southeastern Baghdad area of Za'afaraniyah, according to a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Two Iraqi passers-by also were killed in the 10 a.m. blasts (which injured the Polish Ambassador yesterday), according to an Iraqi police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

A Polish security guard, Bartosz Orzechowski, 29, died at the hospital, said Poland's Interior Minister Wladyslaw Stasiak. The slain guard had been employed by the service since 2004.

Authorities at the scene confiscated an AP Television News videotape that contained scenes of the wounded being evacuated.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl told the AP Thursday that the tape was in the hands of the U.S. military and would be returned to the AP shortly.

The camera operator said he was handcuffed and detained by the U.S. troops at the scene for 40 minutes. He said he was kept inside an American Humvee, then released. He said the Americans took the tape but returned his camera upon his release.

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Associated Press correspondents Katarina Kratovac in Baghdad and Monika Scislowska and Ryan Lucas in Warsaw contributed to this report.

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