Attackers killed at least five Iraqi police trainees Tuesday as they were on their way to work in the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, witnesses and hospital officials said, according to Reuters.
In another incident, two Iraqi civilians were killed and six wounded when four mortar rounds hit a base being used by the new Iraqi army trained by the US-led occupation in Mosul, police said. According to AFP, gunmen later opened fire and seriously injured a member of the Facility Protection Services (FPS) police force in east Mosul.
Elsewhere, two Iraqi policemen were killed and two others were injured by suspected gunmen in a drive-by shooting in the northern city of Kirkuk early Tuesday.
Ali Kazim, 26, and his 23-year-old brother were shot dead at a checkpoint in the center of the city, according to Col. Muness Ishak. Two of their colleagues were seriously wounded, one of them losing an eye.
"The attack was carried out when four men in a white car drove past the checkpoint and opened fire with machine guns, killing two policemen and injuring two others," Ishak said. Police launched a search for the assailants.
Earlier, two rockets were reportedly fired at Kirkuk airport, which houses a key US military base for the region.
The attack took place at midnight (21:00 GMT) and huge plumes of smoke were seen rising from the base, the city's police chief, General Turhan Yusuf, said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
