At least 16 die in Iraq blasts

Published August 29th, 2009 - 10:40 GMT

Two truck bombs exploded north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 16 people. Saturday's deadliest attack came at about 8 a.m. when a suicide truck bomber attacked a police station in the village of Hamad north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, including six police, said officials from the Iraqi army and police.

 

According to the AP, policemen 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 hurt in the attack, said the police official.

 

The second blast took place near Mosul in the city of Sinjar, where a parked truck bomb that went off at about 10:15 a.m. killed at least four people and injured 23 others, another police official said.

 

Saturday's attacks came as thousands mourned the death of a prominent Shiite leader, following behind Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's casket as it started the final leg of a two-day funeral procession to the southern city of Najaf from nearby Karbala.