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Blasts at two police stations

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA Nov. 22. In escalating attacks on supporters of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, resistance forces struck at two police stations north of Baghdad, killing at least 18 people including several policemen.

Six policemen and three civilians were killed in the suicide car bomb attack on the Khan Bani Saad police station on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Six people were killed and 10 wounded when another car bomb exploded near the main police headquarters in Baquba, 65 km from Baghdad, destroying large portions of the building. Iraqi resistance fighters have in the past attacked police stations as the police force is seen as collaborating with the U.S. occupation. A cargo transport plane, belonging to the Belgium based company, DHL, made an emergency landing at Baghdad airport with one of its wings aflame. An agency report quoting a military source said an SAM-7 surface-to-air missile had hit the plane.

Iraqi guerilla fighters have downed five U.S. Army helicopters in recent weeks killing 39 people. Saturday's attacks come amid reports that an escalation of resistance strikes can be expected as Ramzan comes to a close in a few days. On Friday, resistance fighters slammed rockets almost simultaneously at Baghdad's Palestine hotel, occupied mostly by western contractors and journalists, the nearby Sheraton hotel and the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Fighters have recently stepped up targeting supporters of the occupation.

On Thursday, a truck bomb exploded in Kirkuk, outside the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), whose leader Jalal Talabani is heading the U.S. appointed Governing Council in Baghdad.

At least four people were killed in this incident. A day earlier, a car bomb detonated outside the home of a tribal leader, known to be close to the U.S. authorities, in the restive town of Ramadi. There have been recent indications that the U.S. military intends to initiate the handover of local authority to `loyal' Iraqis there.

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