Franchise registrations in Saudi Arabia surge 866% over 3 years    Lulu Saudi Arabia celebrates its 15th anniversary with the grand launch of 'Super Fest 2024'    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Culture minister tours Saudi pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Saud Abdulhamid makes history as first Saudi player in Serie A    Saudi Cabinet to hold special budget session on Tuesday    King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Truck bomb destroys key bridge in western Iraq
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 17 - 10 - 2009


A suicide bomber driving a dynamite-laden
truck destroyed a key bridge Saturday on a highway used by
the departing U.S. military, while separate attacks killed
nine Iraqis, most of them security force members, police
said, AP reported.
There were no casualties in the blast that destroyed the
bridge outside the city of Ramadi, which is about 70 miles
(125 kilometers) west of Baghdad, said a local police
officer. The highway is used heavily by the U.S. military
to transport equipment out of the country. It is also a
major roadway for civilian traffic.
The highway links Iraq to neighboring Syria and Jordan,
where many Iraqis fled to escape sectarian violence.
Also Saturday, an attack on an Iraqi army convoy just
outside of the city of Fallujah killed four Iraqi soldiers
and wounded 14, said a police officer in the city, which is
about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
A U.S. military spokesman in Iraq's western Anbar
province, where both Ramadi and Fallujah are located,
confirmed Saturday's explosion on the highway bridge, which
was close to two Iraqi military bases that host U.S. troops
in the area.
Lt. Col. Curtis L. Hill said U.S. forces have «previously
used the bridge,» but he would not say what impact its
destruction might have on U.S. military convoys
transporting equipment out of Iraq to meet President Barack
Obama's deadline for a complete pullout of combat troops by
August 2010.
The Anbar provincial police commander, Maj. Gen. Tariq
Yousif Mohammed, told The Associated Press that he believed
the blast was aimed at Iraqis. Traffic in and around Ramadi
was backed up after the early morning explosion.
«I don't think the Americans were targeted by the
blast,» he said.
Western Anbar province was once a hotbed of Iraq's
Sunni-dominated insurgency and the scene of some of the
most intense U.S. fighting with militants. Violence
subsided significantly after local tribes decided to align
themselves with U.S. forces instead of al-Qaida.
Attacks have not been halted entirely. Last Sunday, 19
people were killed in a spate of coordinated car bombings
across Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, sparking fears
of a reinvigorated insurgency that could destabilize Iraq
before January's crucial parliamentary elections.
Elsewhere in Iraq, violence has intensified. The northern
cities of Mosul and Kirkuk have recently been hit by
horrific attacks targeting ethnic minorities and Iraqi
security forces.
On Saturday, attackers threw hand grenades at an Iraqi
army patrol near Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north
of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding two others,
a police official in the oil-rich city said.
In Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad,
2 policemen and one civilian were killed Saturday in three
unrelated incidents, police said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the
media.
Meanwhile, Britain's Home office said Saturday that only
10 of about 40 Iraqis who failed to get asylum in the U.K.
and were sent back to Iraq were allowed to remain in the
country after landing in Baghdad on Thursday.
There is an official agreement between the two countries
to send those citizens who fail to get asylum in the U.K.
back to Iraq.
An official at Baghdad airport denied Britain's claim that
Iraq denied entry to some of the deportees, saying the
roughly 30 passengers who returned to the U.K. were
minority Kurds who were too afraid to remain in Iraq. The
10 Iraqis who remained were Arabs, he said, speaking on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
talk to the media.


Clic here to read the story from its source.