Despite Daytime Vehicle Ban, Gunmen Kill 9

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Unidentified gunmen fired mortars and stormed an electricity substation in a southeastern Baghdad suburb, killing at least nine people and injuring three, police said Friday.

Iraqi police and soldiers, meanwhile, enforced a daytime ban on private vehicles in the strife-prone capital in an effort to avert attacks during midday prayers Friday, when large numbers of Muslims congregate for the most important service of the week.

The attack on the power substation began when a string of mortar shells slammed into the Nahrwan station on Thursday evening, police Lt. Bilal Ali Majed said. Half an hour later, dozens of gunmen arrived in pickup trucks and set fire to the facility, he said.

Security guards returned fire, and Iraqi police and army sent in reinforcements, he said.

At least nine people were killed and three injured in the exchanges, police Lt. Mohammed Kheyoun. He identified the victims as guards and technicians employed by the facility. He did not know whether there were casualties among the assailants.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060303/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_