WAR: Insurgents Target Iraqi Police; 59 Dead, page 1

A car bomb ripped into a Baghdad Police HQ today were Iraqi's had lined up to apply for jobs on the force. At least 59 people were killed as well at 114 injured. This is the latest attack in what has become a clear attempt to go after the Iraqi police force.

story.news.yahoo.com
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb Tuesday ripped through a busy market near a Baghdad police headquarters where Iraqis were waiting to apply for jobs on the force, and gunmen opened fire on a van carrying police home from work in Baqouba, killing at least 59 people total and wounding at least 114.

The attacks were the latest attempts by militants to wreck the building of a strong Iraqi security force, a keystone of the U.S. strategy for ending the unflagging insurgency ahead of nationwide elections slated for January and for allowing an eventual withdrawal of American forces.

Despite U.S. claims that Iraqi forces are showing more resolve to fight, insurgents have only grown stronger and have shown they can strike at will, particularly in Baghdad. Tuesday's attacks came only two days after a surprise insurgent offensive in the capital that saw mortars pounding downtown Baghdad and left 60 dead.

The Tawhid and Jihad group, headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted a Web statement claiming responsibility for the car bomb in the capital. The al-Qaida-linked group said earlier it carried out Sunday's campaign of attacks and boasted that it had the upper hand in the fight against the Americans and their Iraqi allies.

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The insurgents seem to have changed thier focus and now are trying to target not only the police, but to discourge any citizens from joining as well. This latest attack is but one of many in an attept to disrupt or make it easier to disrupt the elections being held in January.

[edit on 9-15-2004 by Valhall]