http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AnbOgIBLonwxSfR9txf0_I2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--Attack on Iraq Interior Ministry Kills 21
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents exploded a suicide car bomb and launched two mortar shells at
Iraq's Interior Ministry during National Police Day celebrations Monday, killing 21 people and injuring 24, police said.
An Internet statement by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the name of his al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group rebuked Sunni Arabs for taking part in last month's parliamentary elections, saying they had "thrown a rope" to save U.S. policy.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said eight U.S. troops and four American civilians died aboard a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed late Saturday in northern Iraq. The military initially said only that there were eight passengers and four crew aboard.
With the latest military deaths, at least 2,207 U.S. service members have died since the war started in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The military said it wasn't yet known what caused the crash and an investigation would take some time. The helicopter went down about seven miles east of Tal Afar, a northern city near the Syrian border that has seen heavy fighting with insurgents.
The Black Hawk was part of a two-helicopter team providing support for the 101st Airborne Division and was flying between bases when communications were lost, the military said.
It was the deadliest helicopter crash in Iraq since a CH-53 Sea Stallion went down in bad weather in western Iraq on Jan. 26, 2005, killing 31 U.S. service members.