25 killed in slew of attacks targeting Iraq police

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BAGHDAD, Oct 12 (AP): A slew of bombings targeted Iraqi police in Baghdad Wednesday morning, including blasts by two suicide bombers who tried to ram their vehicles through police station gates. Iraqi officials said 25 people died and dozens more were wounded in the carnage. The blasts were aimed at the police, generally considered to be the weakest section of the country's security forces, and emphasised that despite Iraq's security gains, long-term stability in the country is still elusive. US forces are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of this year, and Wednesday's multi-pronged attack is likely to add to concerns about whether the Iraqi security forces are able to effectively secure the city. In the southern Karradah neighbourhood, 13 people died and 25 were wounded by a suicide car bomb attack on a police station, said Baghdad police officials. Smoke could be seen rising from the blast site as ambulances rushed to the scene, their sirens wailing. Iraqi army helicopters circled over head. In the mainly Shiite neighbourhood of Hurriyah, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station and killed nine people, said two Baghdad police officials. Twenty-seven people were also wounded in that blast. Officials said the suicide bombers both exploded their vehicles at the outer entrance leading into the police stations. "The scene was horrific," said Salim Ghadban, who was having breakfast near the Karradah police station when he heard a loud explosion. "We saw terrified people, some injured, running in our direction, and we rushed to the attacked police station to see burned bodies and charred cars. We helped cover the burnt bodies until the ambulances arrived." The attack in Hurriyah was especially remarkable because the neighbourhood is a stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It is almost entirely surrounded by blast walls, and access is tightly restricted through just a four entrances manned by the Iraqi army. A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in western Baghdad, killing two policemen and wounding another five, said police officials.