Iraqi Resistance Picks out Targets across Iraq

Attacks across Iraq have targeted two US bases, a leading political aide and a Kurdish leader, leaving several people dead and many more injured. The deadliest incident took place south of Kirkuk, when a car bomb exploded near the convoy of a Kurdish official in Tuz Khurmatu, killing at least five people and wounding 18 others, police said. Muhammed Mahmoud Jigareti, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and several others in the convoy were hurt in the blast. Al-Jaafari aide assassinated Meanwhile, two carloads of armed men assassinated a top aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's cabinet and his driver in Baghdad, police said. Wael al-Rubaei was attacked in the main street in central Baghdad's Mansour district at about 8.15am as they were heading to work, said police Lieutenant Majid Zaki. Zaki said two carloads of armed men sprayed automatic weapons fire at al-Rubaei's vehicle, killing the official and his driver. The slaying follows Sunday's killing of another senior government official, Trade Ministry auditing office chief Ali Moussa. State employees have been prime targets of fighters trying to disrupt the US-backed Iraqi government. US Soldiers Killed Officials on Monday said three Task Force Freedom soldiers were killed in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. Details were not released. A fourth Task Force Liberty soldier died of wounds sustained in 10 a.m. car bomb attack against his combat patrol just north of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. A fifth soldier was fatally injured in a vehicle accident at 2:30 p.m. near Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, officials said. The cause of the accident was under investigation. Base attacked Earlier on Monday morning, three bombers attacked an American military base in Mosul wounding three US soldiers, and killing two Iraqis, the military said. And in downtown Samarra, two bombers detonated car bombs at about 7am outside the US base, 95km north of Baghdad, Major Richard Goldenberg said. Three Task Force Liberty soldiers sustained non life-threatening wounds, Goldenberg added. The Associated Press put the number of injured people at 23. A third man approached the scene wearing an explosives-packed vest and was shot by soldiers, but still managed to set off his bomb, killing himself but causing no other injuries or damage, Goldenberg said. US and Iraqi security forces quickly cordoned off the area, blocking all vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Separately, a bomber injured four Iraqi civilians in a Sunday attack in a neighbourhood in Mosul, 360km northwest of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement.