Fighting Erupts in Baqouba and Surrounding Province

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBTFL5X5DE.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents launched a series of assaults Saturday in a province north of Baghdad, killing at least 20 Iraqi security forces, officials said. U.S. and Iraq troops clashed with insurgents near the northern city of Tal Afar.

Nine policemen died in a pair of shootouts in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, officials said. Six policemen and two soldiers were killed in another gunbattle in Buhriz, a suburb of Baqouba, officials said.

Three Iraqi soldiers also died Saturday when their convoy was attacked by gunmen near Adhaim, 30 miles north of Baqouba, police Col. Abdullah Qadir said.

The attacks occurred in Diyala province, a religiously and ethnically mixed area with a Sunni majority.

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1. 19 Iraqi police, soldiers die in Baquba attacks

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen killed 19 Iraqi police and troops and wounded another 16 in three separate attacks near Baquba, north of Baghdad, on Saturday, police and hospital sources said.

The first attack came in the morning at an Iraqi army checkpoint 30 km (around 20 miles) north of the mainly Sunni Arab city, when four soldiers died. Later, four police officers were killed by armed gunmen at a checkpoint in the center of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

The third attack was on a checkpoint manned jointly by police and soldiers 4 km (2.5 miles) south of Baquba, in which seven police and two soldiers were shot dead.

Police would not comment on whether the attacks were carried out by the same people, or on whether they were revenge attacks by Shi'ite Muslims following a stampede on a bridge in Baghdad on Wednesday in which around 1,000 Shi'ite pilgrims died.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-09-03T140217Z_01_MOL350469_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-BAQUBA-ATTACKS-DC.XML