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At least 23 Iraqis die in spate of attacks
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-23 08:32
Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a policeman's home northeast of
Baghdad on Sunday, killing his four children and his brother and raising to at
least 23 the number of Iraqis killed in attacks this weekend.
Also Sunday, police found the bullet-riddled bodies of nearly two dozen men
abducted last week north of Baghdad after being rejected entry into a police
academy, officials said.
The violence continued as Iraq's political parties began gearing up for talks
on a new coalition government that U.S. officials hope will win the confidence
of disaffected Sunni Arabs and undermine support for the insurgency. That would
hasten the time when U.S. and other foreign troops can go home.
There was still no word on the fate of kidnapped American journalist Jill
Carroll two days after a deadline set by her captors. They had threatened to
kill the 28-year-old freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor unless all
Iraqi women detainees were freed.
An Iraqi man cries for a wounded relative at
the scene of a roadside bomb that targeted an Iraqi patrol, Sunday, Jan.
22, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq. [AP] | Iraqi officials have said they expect the Americans to free six of the nine
women they are holding this week. U.S. authorities have not confirmed the claim.
The attack on the policeman's home occurred in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast
of Baghdad, according to the Iraqi police Joint Coordination Center. The
officer's four children, ages 6 to 11, and his brother were killed, the center
said. The officer was unharmed, but his wife was wounded.
Sunni-led insurgents often target police as part of their campaign to try to
undermine support for the U.S.-backed government.
Four policemen were killed and nine were wounded Sunday when a roadside bomb
exploded near their patrol in the tense city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of
Baghdad, police said. Police also said a man was gunned down at a west Baghdad
gas station and another was slain in a market in the capital's Amil district.
The bodies of the 23 men were found partially buried near Dujail, about 50
miles north of Baghdad, said Interior Ministry police Lt. Thair Mahmoud. They
had been abducted Wednesday while traveling from Baghdad to their homes in
Samarra after failing to be accepted at a police recruit center.
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