At least five policemen were killed and another 20 wounded, many of them policemen, when a suicide bomber smashed a powerful car bomb into a police patrol in Baghdad on Friday, the Health Ministry and police sources said.
The suicide bomber rammed his car against a police vehicle, one of eight in a patrol, causing a massive explosion, police witnesses said.
The blast came after a suicide attack that claimed the lives of 49 people at a main Baghdad police station and the gunning down of 12 policemen and their driver in Baquba on Tuesday.
”The suicide bomber was driving a Chevrolet Malibu. He smashed his car against the police vehicle,” said Interior Ministry spokesperson Adnan Abdul Rahman.
”Five people were killed and 20 others wounded in the attack, most of them policemen,” said a Health Ministry official in charge of centralising casualty tolls.
The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, warned that the toll could rise and was unable to confirm whether the suicide bomber was included in the count.
”Five of my police colleagues were killed and all eight of our patrol cars were damaged,” said First Lieutenant Jafaar Hussein, his shirt drenched in blood.
”We were getting ready for a raid, when suddenly a car drove towards us and exploded,” said policeman Hamid Harb Hussein, undergoing hospital treatment for shrapnel wounds in the leg and head.
The blast occurred just before 12.30pm [8.30am GMT] at Maaruf Rusafi Square. United States soldiers and Iraqi police sealed off the area.
The district, on the east side of the River Tigris, is normally teeming with merchants, but is less crowded on Friday, the Muslim day of rest in Iraq.
On Tuesday, a car bombing outside a Baghdad police station claimed 49 lives. — Sapa-AFP