Truck bombs kill 16 people in Iraq

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A man weeps while walking with other mourners near the car carrying the coffin of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim in Baghdad during a two-day funeral procession Friday. — AP

BAGHDAD, Aug 29 (AP): Two truck bombs struck separate communities north of Iraq's capital Saturday, killing at least 16 people in the latest attacks that indicate insurgents are targeting relatively unprotected areas as security forces focus on defending the cities.
The Iraqi government is eager to demonstrate it can protect the population following the withdrawal of US combat troops from urban areas nearly two months ago. But a recent series of high-profile bombings that have killed hundreds in both major cities and remote areas has raised concerns Iraqi forces are not up to the task.
Saturday's deadliest attack came at about 8 am when a suicide truck bomber attacked a small police station in the remote village of Hamad north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, including six police, said officials from the Iraqi army and police.
Police at a checkpoint attempted to stop the truck, forcing the attacker to change direction and slam into a concrete barrier close to a market, damaging a number of nearby homes and shops, they said. Fifteen people were also wounded in the attack, said the police official.