Region | Iraq
Six soldiers killed in Iraq as army patrol ambushed
Six Iraqi soldiers were killed yesterday when an Iraqi army patrol was ambushed by two roadside bombs as they were responding to a mortar attack at a police station north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.
- AP
- Published: 23:38 January 8, 2009
- An Iraqi soldier, who was injured in a blast near Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, is taken to a hospital on Thursday.
- Image Credit: AP
Baghdad: Six Iraqi soldiers were killed yesterday when an Iraqi army patrol was ambushed by two roadside bombs as they were responding to a mortar attack at a police station north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.
The attack comes as Iraqi security forces and the US military said during a joint press conference that there was strong concern of a possible outbreak of violence before and after the January 31 Iraq-wide pro-vincial elections.
US troops have been providing security during the transportation of balloting materials and will help provide security during the election but remain most concerned about the postelection violence.
Although violence is down in Iraq more than 80 per cent since early 2008, US officials say the security situation remains tenuous.
Yesterday's apparent coordinated attack is the latest effort by insurgents who have targeted Iraqi security forces in their bid to disrupt recent security gains that have led to a sharp decline in violence in Iraq.
Five other soldiers were wounded when the bombs exploded simultaneously at about 2am as the patrol was responding to a call for aid at a police station near the village of Jalula, said a security official at the provincial security headquarters in Diyala province.
A third roadside bomb exploded in the same area minutes after the double blast, but caused no damage, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release information to the media.
The US military said initial reports showed six Iraqi soldiers were killed and three were wounded in the attack. The Iraqi police initially reported five killed and eight wounded, but later revised its numbers. Conflicting reports on the number of dead and wounded are common in Iraq in the chaotic aftermath of attacks.
The security official said the Iraqi army patrol was responding to the location where the mortars were believed to have been fired at the police station, when the explosions occurred.
In a separate attack, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a patrol exploded yesterday morning near the village of Al Rashad, southwest of Kirkuk, said police Brigadier Sarhat Qadir.
Army Brigadier General David Perkins told report-ers during a news conference at the heavily fortified Green Zone that American troops have been working with Iraqi forces to provide election security in pro-vinces such as Diyala and Nineveh, where troops continue to fight Al Qaida in Iraq and other insurgents, despite dwindling numbers.
Police Brig Gen Omar Al Jibouri, who is in charge of protecting polling stations throughout Iraq, would not divulge the number of security forces being deployed for the elections but said it would be a sufficient number.
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