20 Iraqi Police Killed

[PVVikeFan]

Suicide blasts kill 20 Iraqi police, wound 96
Attack comes day after Iraqis launch "?Operation Lightning

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two suicide bombers attacked a large crowd of police special forces south of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 20 policemen and wounding nearly 100 a day after Iraqi forces launched a massive offensive against insurgents in the capitol, police and hospitals officials said.

Iraqi police and soldiers immediately cordoned off the area, which was covered with pieces of flesh, pools of blood and shreds of clothing.

Iraqi police fought pitched battles with insurgents Sunday as thousands of security forces backed by American troops swept through Baghdad's streets to flush out militants responsible for killing more than 720 people since Iraq's new government was announced in April.

Insurgents lashed back "? killing at least 30 people, including a British soldier "? and a senior U.S. military intelligence official acknowledged there are few indications they "are packing their bags."?

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for nearly all the attacks in Internet statements that could not be independently verified.

High-profile arrests
In their biggest coup of "Operation Lightning,"? Iraqi and U.S. soldiers arrested a former general in Saddam Hussein's intelligence service who was also a member of his Fedayeen secret police during a raid in western Baghdad, the scene of some of Sunday's heaviest fighting.

"He now leads the military wings of several terror cells operating in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliyah,"? the military said in its announcement about the former general. It did not release his name or provide further details.

On Monday, U.S. troops arrested the leader of one of Iraq's main Sunni Arab political parties at his house in Baghdad on Monday, party officials said.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the arrest of Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, and party officials said it was not clear why he was arrested.

The party boycotted Iraq's Jan. 30 elections but was among several Sunni Arab groups that signaled this month that they were ready to take a greater role in the country's politics.

Bombers target policemen
Iraqi police Capt. Muthana Khalid Ali said Monday's suicide attack happened at 9:15 a.m. in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, when two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts blew themselves up in the middle of a group of policemen.

About 500 policemen had gathered outside the local mayor's office to protest a government decision to disband their special forces unit.

Ali alleged some policemen had presented fake documents to the Hillah mayor's office several months ago approving the opening of a special forces unit in this city.

But the new government, announced April 28, discovered the documents were not legitimate and decided to close the special forces station, Ali added. Interior Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

Just read an update 10 more dead. Yet the Iraqi's are not fighting a civil war. Sound familiar guys?

An Iraqi Air Force aircraft carrying four U.S. military personnel and an Iraqi crashed Monday northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The conditions of the five were not immediately clear.
An announcement said an Iraqi aircraft crashed sometime before noon, but it did not specify what type of aircraft.
The military said four U.S. personnel and one Iraqi were on board, and U.S. coalition forces secured the area. The identities of the personnel on board were not released.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Baghdad, Sgt. Kate Neuman, said the four Americans were military personnel.
The report did not say where the crash occurred in eastern Diyala province, which is located northwest of Baghdad. It was reported to a joint communication center in the town of Khanaqin, near the Iranian border.

ARLINGTON, Va. - President Bush honored America's "brave defenders" Monday in a dual Memorial Day salute to the dead and missing in action from wars of yesteryear and those on the front lines of today's war against terrorism. "We must honor their sacrifice by defeating the terrorists, advancing the cause of liberty," Bush told a large crowd of military leaders, rank-and-file troops and their families gathered under a brilliant sun at the nation's most revered military burial ground.