EvanL
03-28-2004, 01:50 PM
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen killed a Briton and a Canadian guarding a power station near Mosul on Sunday, in the second straight day of violence in the northern Iraqi city that was home to large numbers of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s military officers.
As U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police sealed the area, witnesses reported two partly burned bodies, both clad in blue clothing and flak jackets, were seen beside a burning four-wheel drive vehicle. One victim had been shot in the head.
In London, the Foreign Office confirmed that one British national was killed. The Canadian Foreign Ministry said from Ottawa a Canadian was also killed and officials were trying to contact his family.
The two men were assigned to protect foreign engineers working for General Electric Co., a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said on condition of anonymity. He confirmed one was a Briton, and that the nationality of the second was unclear.
Earlier, an Iraqi official at the power station in East Mosul said the slain men were protecting foreign experts working at the station. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said a second car carrying experts escaped the attack.
General Electric is involved in efforts to rebuild Iraq (news - web sites)'s decrepit, electrical infrastructure, which has suffered from bombing and years of sanctions. Power blackouts are frequent.
Insurgents have targeted foreign civilians, possibly as a means of undermining reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Earlier this month, four American missionaries working on a water project were shot to death in Mosul. One missionary survived with injuries.
Also Sunday, assailants detonated a bomb in Baqouba, a city northeast of Baghdad, injuring five bystanders, including two children. It was unclear whether the blast targeted a policeman who lives near the site of the explosion, or the house of a carpenter who has received threats because he has worked for American forces.
The blast in Baqouba, where anti-U.S. insurgents are active, wounded an eight-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister, police Capt. Mohammed Hadi said. The policeman and the carpenter were unharmed.
To the north, in Kirkuk, a bomb exploded at an intersection where police cars park daily. Three civilians were injured, police Col. Dashti Aziz said. As bystanders gathered after the blast, gunmen opened fire from a passing car, but there were no casualties. Police said the shooters were later apprehended.
On Saturday, rebel rockets slammed into a government building in Mosul, killing two civilians and wounding 14 others.
The rocket launcher was hidden in a wooden cart that was wheeled to a blast wall surrounding the three-story main government building, said Mosul police Sgt. Jassim Mohammed.
In the country's south Saturday, a gunman shot and killed the Iraqi driver of a civilian truck carrying supplies to Japan's military, Japan's Kyodo News agency said. The attack was an apparent robbery attempt.
Japan's Defense Agency said a civilian truck hired to transport supplies to Japanese troops in Samawah had been attacked. Tokyo has about 1,000 naval, air, and ground forces in Iraq to help with reconstruction.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen killed a Briton and a Canadian guarding a power station near Mosul on Sunday, in the second straight day of violence in the northern Iraqi city that was home to large numbers of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s military officers.
As U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police sealed the area, witnesses reported two partly burned bodies, both clad in blue clothing and flak jackets, were seen beside a burning four-wheel drive vehicle. One victim had been shot in the head.
In London, the Foreign Office confirmed that one British national was killed. The Canadian Foreign Ministry said from Ottawa a Canadian was also killed and officials were trying to contact his family.
The two men were assigned to protect foreign engineers working for General Electric Co., a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said on condition of anonymity. He confirmed one was a Briton, and that the nationality of the second was unclear.
Earlier, an Iraqi official at the power station in East Mosul said the slain men were protecting foreign experts working at the station. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said a second car carrying experts escaped the attack.
General Electric is involved in efforts to rebuild Iraq (news - web sites)'s decrepit, electrical infrastructure, which has suffered from bombing and years of sanctions. Power blackouts are frequent.
Insurgents have targeted foreign civilians, possibly as a means of undermining reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Earlier this month, four American missionaries working on a water project were shot to death in Mosul. One missionary survived with injuries.
Also Sunday, assailants detonated a bomb in Baqouba, a city northeast of Baghdad, injuring five bystanders, including two children. It was unclear whether the blast targeted a policeman who lives near the site of the explosion, or the house of a carpenter who has received threats because he has worked for American forces.
The blast in Baqouba, where anti-U.S. insurgents are active, wounded an eight-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister, police Capt. Mohammed Hadi said. The policeman and the carpenter were unharmed.
To the north, in Kirkuk, a bomb exploded at an intersection where police cars park daily. Three civilians were injured, police Col. Dashti Aziz said. As bystanders gathered after the blast, gunmen opened fire from a passing car, but there were no casualties. Police said the shooters were later apprehended.
On Saturday, rebel rockets slammed into a government building in Mosul, killing two civilians and wounding 14 others.
The rocket launcher was hidden in a wooden cart that was wheeled to a blast wall surrounding the three-story main government building, said Mosul police Sgt. Jassim Mohammed.
In the country's south Saturday, a gunman shot and killed the Iraqi driver of a civilian truck carrying supplies to Japan's military, Japan's Kyodo News agency said. The attack was an apparent robbery attempt.
Japan's Defense Agency said a civilian truck hired to transport supplies to Japanese troops in Samawah had been attacked. Tokyo has about 1,000 naval, air, and ground forces in Iraq to help with reconstruction.