19 Iraqis Killed in Car Bombing

[TacticalPeek]

19 Iraqis Killed in Car Bombing

By ERIK ECKHOLM

Published: January 3, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 2 - Insurgents pressed their unrelenting campaign to demolish the fledgling Iraqi security forces on Sunday, killing 18 members of the Iraqi National Guard and a civilian with a suicide car bomb north of Baghdad, the United States Army said, and killing several police officers and local officials in other attacks around the country.

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The Army said elements of the 82nd Airborne Division had arrived in the beleaguered northern city of Mosul to reinforce troops there. Troops have been bolstered in Baghdad as well in preparation for the elections, and total American forces in Iraq are projected to rise this month to 150,000, from 138,000.

Also on Sunday, leaders of the country's most powerful political coalition, which is led by Shiite parties, held a surprise news conference in Baghdad. They urged Sunni Arabs to take part in the elections and sought to dispel fears that they were under the sway of Iran or were trying to establish an Islamic theocracy.

The leaders of the coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, said elections must proceed as scheduled despite widespread violence, which is concentrated in Sunni regions north and west of Baghdad.

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A four-wheel-drive vehicle crammed with explosives blew up next to a bus full of national guard officers in Balad, the police said. In addition to the 19 people killed, six guardsmen were wounded.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/03/international/middleeast/03iraq.html