Killings Sweep Across Baghdad

Copyright © 2006 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

DON GONYEA, host:

This is MORNING EDITION.

DON GONYEA, host:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Don Gonyea.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

Iraq today was swept by another wave of deadly attacks. At least 40 people have been killed. That includes 20 soldiers whose bus was blown up by a roadside bomb. The military bus reportedly was part of a convoy being escorted by US troops. And in a town north of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded in front of a hospital, killing at least seven people.

The bloodletting continues to surge in political and sectarian violence that has prompted the Pentagon to order 3,700 more US troops into Baghdad.

GONYEA: Today's attacks come a day after gunmen, appearing to be Iraqi police, stormed buildings in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood, and kidnapped dozens of Iraqis. This is the second time in two weeks that gunmen dressed in military fatigues have abducted people in the Karata neighborhood. Iraqi officials say police have had nothing to do with it.

The US military and Iraqi officials today announced the arrest of a number of suspected terrorists. Some, they say, are high-level members of al-Qaida in Iraq. It was impossible to independently verify the claims. Detainees who are eventually convicted will find themselves confined in one of the many prisons across Iraq.

Copyright © 2006 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.