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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gunmen kill 17 civilians in Iraq


Mourners carry the coffin of 20-year-old Iraqi policeman Ali Hashim, who was killed in Baghdad on Saturday. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Nick Wadhams Associated Press

Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying unarmed Iraqis to work at a U.S. ammo dump near Tikrit on Sunday, killing 17 and raising the death toll from three days of intensified insurgent attacks to at least 70 Iraqis and eight U.S. troops.

The attacks, focused in Baghdad and several cities to the north, appeared to be aimed at scaring off those who cooperate with the American military – whether police, national guardsmen, Kurdish militias, or ordinary people just looking for a paycheck.

The violence came just weeks after the United States launched major offensives aimed at suppressing guerrillas ahead of crucial elections set for Jan. 30. Later Sunday, several small Sunni Muslim groups joined more influential Sunni clerics in demanding that the vote be postponed by six months.

Sunday’s bloodshed began when gunmen opened fire at the bus as it dropped off Iraqis employed by coalition forces at a weapons dump in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, said Capt. Bill Coppernoll, spokesman for the Tikrit-based U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Coppernoll said 17 people died and 13 were wounded in the attack.

Survivors said about seven guerrillas were involved, emptying their clips into the bus before fleeing. The bodies of the victims were brought to a morgue too small to hold them all; some were left in the street.

About an hour later, a suicide car bomber drove into an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint in Beiji, about 75 miles to the north, detonating his explosives-packed vehicle, Coppernoll said. Gunmen then opened fire on the position. Three guardsmen, including a company commander, were killed and 18 wounded, Coppernoll said.

Also Sunday, guerrillas ambushed a joint Iraqi-coalition patrol in Latifiyah, south of Baghdad, and attacked Iraqi National Guardsmen patrolling near Samarra, north of Baghdad. Two Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded.

Eight U.S. troops have been killed since Friday as well. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said today that two Marines were killed Friday during operations in Anbar province, a vast region that includes the battleground cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. No further details were provided.

Two soldiers were slain Saturday during a patrol in Mosul, when they came under fire from insurgents shooting from two mosques and other buildings in the area, according to spokeswoman Capt. Angela Bowman.