Nine US soldiers killed

BAGHDAD – Gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers raided a remote village near the city of Baqouba yesterday, killing six people, wounding 15, and burning five homes, police said.

The attack by about 70 gunmen riding in Iraqi army Humvees took place a day after a suicide car bomber killed nine US soldiers and wounded 20 at a military outpost near Baqouba in one of the worst attacks on American ground forces since the invasion in 2003. In a separate attack on Monday, a suicide car bomber struck a police station in Baqouba, killing 10 people and wounding 23, police said.The fatalities included Brigadier General Safa al-Tamimi, a city police commander, and the wounded included police Colonel Bassem Azzawi.Baqouba, 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, is the capital of Diyala province, a region with a mixed Sunni-Shiite area where American forces are engaged in fierce fighting with entrenched al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents.Nampa-APIn a separate attack on Monday, a suicide car bomber struck a police station in Baqouba, killing 10 people and wounding 23, police said.The fatalities included Brigadier General Safa al-Tamimi, a city police commander, and the wounded included police Colonel Bassem Azzawi.Baqouba, 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, is the capital of Diyala province, a region with a mixed Sunni-Shiite area where American forces are engaged in fierce fighting with entrenched al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents.Nampa-AP