Iraq bus bombing kills nine passengers

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus near Mosul on Tuesday, killing nine passengers near Iraq's main northern city which is regarded as an Al-Qaeda stronghold, a security official said.

In another brazen daylight attack, a group of armed men kidnapped 21 male passengers travelling in two minibuses in the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, police said.

The suicide attack on the bus near Mosul came after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised a "decisive battle" against Al-Qaeda fighters in the area last month.

A major crackdown in the Baghdad region in which US troop reinforcements have joined Iraqi forces has led to a sharply reduced militant presence around the capital and Mosul now has a reputation as Al-Qaeda's...