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NATIONAL NEWS

Car bomb hits Iraq police, kills 17

Monday, December 15, 2003

Baghdad—At least 17 people have died and 30 are wounded after a powerful car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police station. US sources at the scene in Khalidiyah, about 35 miles (60 km) west of Baghdad, say it may have been a suicide attack. "[The] explosion went off near the gate of the station," a local police lieutenant said. Scores of Iraqis have been killed or injured in bomb attacks targeting police stations and those co-operating with coalition forces. The blast occurred about 0840 local time (0540 GMT) at the station, which is next to a main road.
"There’s a big hole outside the gate about three or four metres (10 to 13 feet) across and more than two metres (six feet) deep, and the outside wall was knocked down," the police lieutenant said. US soldiers and Iraqi police could be seen surveying the site of the blast, which left a huge crater in the road and destroyed a large section of the building’s front wall.
The bodies of both police officers and civilians could be seen amid the debris and several wrecked cars were also visible in the nearby streets, witnesses said. Correspondents say if the deaths are confirmed it would be the largest single attack on Iraqi police in the country. Khalidiyah is located in the so-called Sunni triangle north and west of Baghdad, which is known to be a stronghold of supporters of the ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
In November, at least 18 people were killed in two car bomb attacks on police stations in the towns of Khan Bani Saad and Baquba, also located in the triangle. In August, the chief of police in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was shot and critically wounded by unknown assailants and two of his bodyguards killed. BBC correspondent James Rodgers in Baghdad says Iraqi police and security personnel working with the US-led coalition are frequently targeted by insurgents within the country because they are seen as collaborators.