Car Bomb Explodes South of Baghdad; 2 Dead

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040915/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716

The bombing followed attacks Tuesday that saw guerrillas bomb a Baghdad shopping street full of police recruits and fire on a police van north of the capital. At least 59 people were killed, bringing the three-day total of dead up to then to nearly 150.


The violence appeared to be part of an increasingly brazen and coordinated campaign to bring the battle to Baghdad, sowing chaos in the center of authority for Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his American allies.


The insurgent attacks appear to have only grown deadlier since Allawi's interim government took power in June despite U.S. claims that Iraqi security forces are showing more resolve against the strikes.


The Tawhid and Jihad group, headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted a Web statement claiming responsibility for Tuesday's car bombing. The al-Qaida-linked group launched a surprise assault in Baghdad on Sunday, killing dozens, and boasted it had the upper hand in the fight against the Americans.