Nine people were killed on Wednesday when the bus they were traveling in north of Baghdad was fired upon by 10 masked gunmen. Two other people were also wounded in the attack, which occurred in the town of Baquba, Iraqi police reported.
The incident follows a spate of similar attacks as well as a resurgence of kidnappings in Iraq, with four Western hostages taken hostage over the past week.
A rise in such incidents was expected by Iraqi and US authorities ahead of Iraq's upcoming election on December 15. Iraqis will go to the polls to vote for their nation's first full-term government since the fall of former leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.
On Tuesday, a videotape was released of three humanitarian workers taken hostage. The three, all workers for the Peacemaker Teams (one of the few remaining aid groups operating in Iraq), are accused by their captors of being spies.
The three hostages are: Tom Fox, 54, a father-of-two from the US, James Loney, 41, a community worker from Canada, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, an electrical engineer and sports coach, also from Canada, according to Reuters.
A second videotape of a German hostage was also released on Tuesday, showing the female archaeologist and her driver.
More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since 2003, and around 50 have been executed since 2004.
155,000 US troops are currently stationed in Iraq.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
