Two car bombing attacks on the highway to Baghdad's international airport killed two US troops and injured 14 on Saturday, the American Army said.
The first bombing took place near an overpass on the road linking the capital to the airport as a convoy passed by, injuring three troops.
According to The AP, at around 4 p.m., American troops traveling to the scene of the attack were hit by a second car bomb, killing two and injuring 11, the military said.
Earlier, a suicide bomber activated a car bomb near a crowd of people waiting to apply for jobs with the Iraqi National Guard in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and injuring 16, officials said.
"I saw a speeding car crossing an open field heading toward the would-be recruits, then there was a huge explosion and a big fire," said an eyewitness.
Initial reports indicated that the victims were civilians and that no guardsmen were killed or wounded, an American spokesman said. He added guardsmen opened fire as the suicide attacker sped toward the building before the car blew up.
Earlier in Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded in a small sidestreet in the city center Saturday, killing one man and seriously wounding two in a passing car, police and witnesses said.
Residents identified the three men as Iraqis who worked as security guards at the nearby al-Sadir Hotel, a heavily fortified complex where U.S. civilian contractors and other Westerners involved in Iraq's reconstruction effort are known to live and work.
The three men were wearing uniforms, body armor and carrying assault rifles, according to the witnesses.
West of Baghdad, residents found the body of Anbar province's deputy governor, who was kidnapped earlier this month, hospital officials said Saturday, according to The AP. Bassem Mohammed's body was found Friday evening near Ramadi General Hospital, said Dr. Abdel Munim Aftan, the facility's director. (albawaba.com)
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