Violence Hits Ahead of Iraq War Milestone
More violence struck Iraq ahead of the anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein: a deadly car bomb exploded Thursday in a southern city, three Iraqi journalists were killed in a drive-by shooting and three U.S. soldiers perished in mortar attacks. The suicide car bombing occurred near a hotel in Basra as a British military patrol passed by, killing two men and a boy in addition to the bomber. A man who got out of the car before the blast was stabbed to death by passers-by. The Iraqi journalists were killed as they drove to work at a coalition-funded television station in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Nine other employees of Diyala TV were wounded in the attack on their minibus, said Sanaa al-Daghistani, the station’s information director. Full Story