Fallouja explosions kill 6; bomber targets U.S. troops in Mosul
As an Iraqi government council ratifies a deal allowing U.S. forces to remain in the country, explosions rip through police stations in Fallouja and a suicide bomber strikes U.S. military forces.
Reporting from Baghdad — Two explosions tore through the city of Fallouja today, killing at least six people and injuring more than 100, and the U.S. military said a suicide bomber in a northern city had struck U.S. military forces and may have killed two Americans.
The attacks coincided with the Iraqi government's ruling Presidency Council ratifying a Status of Forces Agreement that will permit U.S. forces to remain in Iraq through 2011. Parliament approved the SOFA on Nov. 27, and today's ratification had been expected.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of American troops in Iraq, welcomed the ratification in a joint statement, saying they looked forward "to the continued reduction in U.S. forces and the normalization of bilateral relations as two sovereign and co-equal nations."
As part of SOFA, U.S. combat troops must leave Iraqi cities and towns by June 30, 2009, leaving Iraqi security forces in charge of them. Today's attacks underscored the challenges that face the Iraqis as they try to sustain security gains the country has witnessed in the past year.
U.S. officials warn regularly that those gains are delicate and could be lost if troops are drawn down too quickly and without proper planning and preparation of Iraqi forces.
Initial reports from the attack in the northern city of Mosul indicated two American troops and nine Iraqi civilians had been killed, but the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement that the information was preliminary and could change as details became clearer.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, which oversees Iraq's police, said the Fallouja bombs killed at least six people and injured 105. But Dr. Majid Ahmed from Fallouja hospital said 18 bodies were received.
Hospital and police numbers often vary in the first hours after an attack.
Both bombs hit Iraqi police stations, which have long been targeted by Sunni Arab insurgents. Fallouja police Maj. Abbas Jumaili said several buildings were destroyed by the attacks, the worst to hit the city in several months.
Susman is a Times staff writer. Times special correspondents in Mosul, Fallouja and Ramadi contributed to this report.
tina.susman@latimes.com
