Baghdad bus attack kills at least 14 Iraqis: Other violence in capital claims at least 30

Iraqi police in Baghdad also discovered at least 60 bodies yesterday, apparent victims of death squad killings

By Solomon Moore

Baltimore Sun.com

December 6, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq // At least 14 Shiite Muslims were killed in the capital yesterday when attackers raked a bus with gunfire and then a car bomb exploded as rescuers were carrying victims away.
Fifteen other people were killed near a gas station when two car bombs exploded in the capital, police said. At least 15 more died in a series of shootings, bombings and mortar volleys in and around Baghdad. Four bodies were pulled from the Tigris River south of the capital.

Iraqi police in Baghdad discovered at least 60 bodies yesterday, apparent victims of death squad killings. Most of the corpses showed signs of torture and execution-style gunshot wounds to the head.

An Iraqi police source also reported that armed men claiming to be Interior Ministry intelligence agents kidnapped at least six people from the ministry's headquarters. The people were awaiting meetings with relatives who were being held at the Interior Ministry's jail, a notorious detention facility known as Site Four, which was investigated earlier this year for prisoner abuses.

The U.S. military announced yesterday that three more U.S. soldiers had died Monday.

A soldier assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division was killed, and another injured, by an explosion near their vehicle in Diyala province.

Insurgents killed a soldier and wounded five others when they attacked their curfew patrol northeast of Baghdad.

A soldier from the 13th Sustainment Command died when his M-1117 armored security vehicle was involved in a rollover accident.

Also yesterday, the U.S. military transferred to Iraqi commanders control over the 3rd Iraqi army division. The division, in charge of Ninevah province, was the third to fall under the control of Iraqi military officers. Iraq's army is 10 divisions strong.

In a recent meeting in Amman, Jordan, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demanded that President Bush accelerate the handover of military authority to his government.

Solomon Moore writes for the Los Angeles Times. The Associated Press contributed to this article.