Suicide car bombers kill 10 in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Three suicide car bombers targeted US and Iraqi security forces in separate attacks on Monday, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20, the Interior Ministry and police said.

The first blast occurred in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, where police pursued a suspicious driver who then blew up his car after being cornered.

The blast killed two policemen and a firefighter and wounded 11 people, including seven civilians, the Interior Ministry said.

A second suicide bomber blew up a vehicle near a joint Iraqi army and police patrol in the nearby city of Samarra, killing five members of the security forces and wounding five others, Iraqi police Major Salah al-Samarai said.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a US military patrol and an Iraqi police station, killing two civilians and wounding five, police said.

Witnesses said a US army Humvee was on fire after the blast and said a US helicopter arrived to evacuate the wounded. They said three US soldiers were evacuated, but the details could not be confirmed with the US military.

There has been a surge in suicide car bombings in Iraq over the past six weeks, since a new government was formed, with many of them targeting Iraqi police and soldiers. Around 900 people have been killed in that time, most of them civilians.

- REUTERS