At least two people, including a civilian and a policeman, were killed on Monday when a suicide bombing occurred at a checkpoint near the Green Zone government compound close to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad.
Six others were also wounded in the attack, reportedly carrying out by a car bomber, according to <i>Reuters</i>.
Two more blasts were reported shortly after the initial attack, though no additional casualties were reported.
The Green Zone and its periphery has been the site of numerous attacks in recent months.
Iraqi security sources revealed on Sunday that the bodies of 23 slain police recruits were recently discovered north of Baghdad near the town of Tarmiya. The men were part of a larger group of 35 recruits; the 12 remaining corpses were also discovered last week.
According to Colonel Emad Mohammed, the men were reportedly traveling as a group to the town of Samarra last Tuesday when gunmen ambushed their convoy.
They were then forced into a pit and shot to death by gunmen, according to Reuters.
On man who had reportedly been wounded in the attack is believed to be the sole survivor of the massacre.
Colonel Mohsen Jassim explained that the area is considered extremely dangerous by security forces, thus hampering efforts to find the missing bodies.
"We don't have the power to control this situation," he said.
The Tarmiya area is known to be a stronghold for Sunni resistance to US-led Iraqi forces and the US-backed Shiite government in Iraq.
Meanwhile, American military sources revealed that two US soldiers were killed on Tuesday by a roadside bomb, according to the AP.
The attack reportedly occurred outside an American air force base near the town of Taaji, 20 kilometers north of Baghdad.
US military sources also reported that they had shot and killed three Iraqi fighters in the northern town of Baiji on Sunday who had fired on their patrol.
Iraqi sources, however, maintain that the three were civilians who had been near the American patrol which they claim had been hit by a roadside bomb, not by gunfire, according to Reuters.
Also on Sunday, a policeman was killed in his home along with his brother and four young nephews when gunmen fired at into his house in the town of Baladruz, northeast of Baghdad.
Tribal leader Ibrahim Ali Al Nuiemei and his son were also found dead on Sunday several hours after being kidnapped in the village of Minzila.
In Baquba, north of Baghdad, four Iraqi policemen were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near them on Sunday.
Many expected such violence to increase after Friday's release of last month's election results.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
