Suicide bombers kill 26 in Iraq

BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck in Baghdad and a Shi’ite city south of the capital in attacks that killed 26 people and injured nearly 50, Iraqi officials said.

One of the attackers targeted bystanders and police who had rushed to the scene of an earlier blast. In a separate incident on Saturday, a fire destroyed a United States military helicopter while it was conducting routine resupply operations near Camp Ramadi in western Iraq, slightly injuring one crewman.The CH-47 Chinook caught fire on the ground and the cause of the blaze was under investigation, the military said in a statement yesterday.In the first suicide attack, an attacker blew himself up outside a recruiting station for police special forces in western Baghdad early on Saturday, killing at least 16 other people, including 11 recruits, police and hospital officials said.Another 22 people were injured.A statement posted on the internet claimed responsibility in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq.The other attacks occurred in Hillah, a mostly Shi’ite city 95km south of Baghdad.Police captain Muthana Khalid Ali said the first blast occurred when a suicide bomber detonated a belt of explosives at a police checkpoint in the city centre.Six policemen and the attacker died in the blast, Ali said.About 10 minutes later, a second suicide attacker blew himself up in a crowd of police and civilians who had rushed to the scene of the first blast, Ali said.Twenty-six people were injured, but only the attacker died, according to Dr Hashim Suleiman of the Hillah General hospital.Hillah is a largely Shi’ite city about 95km south of Baghdad.On February 28, a suicide car bomber struck a crowd of police and army recruits in Hillah, killing 125 and wounding more than 140 in the second deadliest attack since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Hillah attacks.However, a posting on an Islamic website claimed responsibility for the Baghdad blast in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.The statement’s authenticity could not be confirmed.Al-Zarqawi’s group is believed responsible for numerous suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq.- Nampa-APIn a separate incident on Saturday, a fire destroyed a United States military helicopter while it was conducting routine resupply operations near Camp Ramadi in western Iraq, slightly injuring one crewman.The CH-47 Chinook caught fire on the ground and the cause of the blaze was under investigation, the military said in a statement yesterday.In the first suicide attack, an attacker blew himself up outside a recruiting station for police special forces in western Baghdad early on Saturday, killing at least 16 other people, including 11 recruits, police and hospital officials said.Another 22 people were injured.A statement posted on the internet claimed responsibility in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq.The other attacks occurred in Hillah, a mostly Shi’ite city 95km south of Baghdad.Police captain Muthana Khalid Ali said the first blast occurred when a suicide bomber detonated a belt of explosives at a police checkpoint in the city centre.Six policemen and the attacker died in the blast, Ali said.About 10 minutes later, a second suicide attacker blew himself up in a crowd of police and civilians who had rushed to the scene of the first blast, Ali said.Twenty-six people were injured, but only the attacker died, according to Dr Hashim Suleiman of the Hillah General hospital.Hillah is a largely Shi’ite city about 95km south of Baghdad.On February 28, a suicide car bomber struck a crowd of police and army recruits in Hillah, killing 125 and wounding more than 140 in the second deadliest attack since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Hillah attacks.However, a posting on an Islamic website claimed responsibility for the Baghdad blast in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.The statement’s authenticity could not be confirmed.Al-Zarqawi’s group is believed responsible for numerous suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages in Iraq.- Nampa-AP