Deadly violence shakes Iraq

2004-11-18 13:46

Baghdad - Four people were killed in bomb attacks in Iraq on Thursday and United States forces shelled rebel holdouts in the restive city of Fallujah, as differences over Iraq moved back into the spotlight at an Anglo-French summit.

As US and Iraqi forces still battled to crush Sunni Muslim insurgents, the world voiced outrage over the suspected murder of British aid worker Margaret Hassan by her kidnappers.

More deadly violence shook Iraq after a day that saw more than 20 people killed in fighting and a bomb attack in Sunni Muslim hotspots.

Early Thursday, two Iraqis were killed in a car bombing outside a police station in Baghdad and another two were killed in an explosion in the northern oil centre of Kirkuk.

Nations condemn Hassan killing

Meanwhile, the United States became the latest nation to condemn the apparent murder of Margaret Hassan, the head of Care International's Iraq operations who was seized by unknown attackers on October 19 while on her way to work.

If her death is confirmed, she is believed to be the first foreign female hostage to have been murdered in Iraq, and the second British hostage.

US-led troops engaged in sporadic battles against rebels in Fallujah after launching a major assault to wrest the Sunni-Muslim stronghold west of Baghdad away from insurgents 10 days ago.

Shelling continued on the southern outskirts of Fallujah Thursday, a photographer said, adding that Iraqi volunteers and US troops were collecting the scores of corpses littering the battered city.

A US marine officer said on Wednesday that the "the battle is over" in Fallujah, although there were still small pockets of rebels that needed to be crushed.

But violence has erupted elsewhere in Iraq, as the military continued its bid to clear rebels from the northern city of Mosul and at least 23 people were killed in clashes and attacks in other cities.

Fourteen people were killed, most of them women and children, and 26 wounded in a bomb explosion and clashes in the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, police said.

Another nine were killed and 15 wounded in clashes in Ramadi, just west of Fallujah.

Policemen targeted

In western Iraq more than 60 policemen were seized on Sunday as they returned from training in Jordan, one of only two men who managed to escape the ambush.

Iraq's security forces are the target of almost daily attacks by insurgents across the war-torn country, with dozens killed in recent months.

Meanwhile, Chirac begins a two-day visit to Britain for an annual Anglo-French summit, with Iraq again a top issue after he said the world was more dangerous since Saddam was toppled in April last year.

"There's no doubt that there has been an increase in terrorism and one of the origins of that has been the situation in Iraq. I am not at all sure that one can say that the world is safer."

- AFP