Nine Iraqi soldiers massacred

BAQUBA – Nine Iraqi soldiers were killed yesterday when rebels launched a carefully-planned dawn raid on a road checkpoint in central Iraq, a day after nearly 50 died in a string of nationwide attacks mostly triggered by suicide bombers.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi authorities said they were investigating the deaths of nine bricklayers, arrested Sunday on suspicion of links to insurgents, who suffocated to death while held in a police van in Baghdad. Monday’s dawn raid by insurgents targetted a checkpoint outside Khales, some 80 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, police said.Gunmen opened fire on the checkpoint at around 5.50am and when Iraqi army reinforcements rushed to the scene triggered a bomb hidden in a pickup truck carrying melons which had been parked nearby.Six soldiers and three civilians were also wounded in the attack.The area is an insurgency hotbed.On June 15, a suicide bomber dressed in army uniform blew himself up at a Khales army camp, killing 23 and wounding 29.The attack followed a spate of killings on Sunday that included seven suicide bomb strikes that killed at least 34 and other deadly attacks that claimed a dozen lives.- Nampa-AFPMonday’s dawn raid by insurgents targetted a checkpoint outside Khales, some 80 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, police said.Gunmen opened fire on the checkpoint at around 5.50am and when Iraqi army reinforcements rushed to the scene triggered a bomb hidden in a pickup truck carrying melons which had been parked nearby.Six soldiers and three civilians were also wounded in the attack.The area is an insurgency hotbed.On June 15, a suicide bomber dressed in army uniform blew himself up at a Khales army camp, killing 23 and wounding 29.The attack followed a spate of killings on Sunday that included seven suicide bomb strikes that killed at least 34 and other deadly attacks that claimed a dozen lives.- Nampa-AFP