He
added that around seven gunmen in two cars fired assault rifles at the
minibus at around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
"Gunmen
in a car opened fire on the policemen's mini-bus before
escaping," police officer Mohammad Kadhem told AFP.
In
the northern city of Kirkuk, two police officers were gunned down and
two others wounded.
"The
slain policemen - twin brothers - were shot by assailants in a
car," Kirkuk police Capt. Abdul-Salam Zangana told the Associated
Press, identifying them as Ahmad and Mohammed Kadhim.
British
Causalities
On
Monday, March 23, 14 British soldiers were injured in a series of
explosions in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, following clashes with
demonstrators.
Three
of the soldiers suffered serious injuries, the Ministry of Defense in
London said.
"The
soldiers were targeted as a result of public order disturbances that
were ongoing at the time and that were being brought under
control," Lieutenant Colonel Paul Young told AFP.
It
was unclear how many explosions occurred, he said, adding that the
incident was still being investigated.
In
London, a defense ministry spokesman said the explosions were thought
to be a deliberate attack against the British forces.
Basra
is headquarters to the 8,800 British troops who have occupied the
south of Iraq since last year's U.S.-led invasion.
According
to an AFP tally, 59 British military personnel have been killed in
Iraq so far, either in resistance operations or in accidents.
 |
|
British Army troops are covered in flames from a petrol bomb
|
British
reports revealed
Saturday, March 20, that Prime Minister Tony Blair was considering
snap election in what was seen by analysts as a preemptive bid to
boost his declining ratings due to the Iraqi limbo.
Dramatic
Rise In Violent Deaths
Meanwhile,
the number of violent deaths in Iraq has risen dramatically since the
end of the U.S.-led war on April 9, a phenomenon never seen during the
rule of ousted president Saddam Hussein, according to Iraqi hospital
reports.
"Before
the war we used to receive about 16 cases monthly of deaths: murder
victims, people killed in traffic accidents or during weddings, sports
events and funerals," said Faik Amin Baker, the director of
Baghdad's Institute of Legal Pathology for the past 14 years.
"In
February we received 570 cases and of those, 254 were victims of
firearms while 46 died from injuries inflicted during
explosions," he said, while the toll for January was 636 dead,
mostly from gunfire.
This
toll, he said, did not include several dozen people killed that month
in bomb attacks in An-Najaf, Karbala, south of the Iraqi capital, and
at a Baghdad mosque.
"Weapons
are everywhere in Iraq and there is no control over them. The
criminals are roaming the streets freely and include (hundreds) that
Saddam released from prison in the run-up to the war," Baker
said.
The
victims, on whose bloodied bodies Baker and his staff of 10
pathologists have performed autopsies, were killed by thugs and armed
robbers, or in settling of accounts or mafia-style vendettas.
"We
are not concerned by the stories behind these deaths. We deal with
their cases from a technical viewpoint, but it is clear that the
violence we are witnessing is a reflection of the security
vacuum," he asserted.
Baker
said the situation in post-war Iraq "is not encouraging" and
"increases my anxiety".
"I
keep on telling my family and my friends to be careful. I tell myself
to be careful and we leave it up to God".
Across
town at the Ibn Nafiss Hospital, director Mohammed Kaho Abbud admitted
that during the war and in the ensuing months he carried a weapon, a
Russian-made Makarov pistol "for psychological support".
"I
never used it but I was determined to if I needed to protect my live
or the lives of my patients," he said, adding that in those
months men often burst into hospitals forcing doctors at gunpoint to
care for an injured relative.
At
the central morgue of Baghdad the dance of death continues.
A
white police pick-up truck pulls up to the back gate to deliver the
body of a young man shot in the chest as an impromptu funeral
procession leaves the compound.
