IRAQ: Guerrillas shot dead two Western engineers and six Iraqis yesterday, bringing to eight the number of foreign civilians killed in ambushes in Iraq over the past eight days.
The Dutch government said one of those killed in an ambush near Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, was from the Netherlands, the first Dutch citizen killed in Iraq since US-led forces invaded the country last March. A German official said the other engineer was German. Two Iraqis were killed in the same ambush.
On Monday evening, guerrillas opened fire on a car carrying US civilians in the northern city of Mosul, killing four, the US army said. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board, based in Virginia, said the victims were missionaries.
Guerrillas also targeted Iraqis in new attacks. Three Iraqi police officers, one of them a lieutenant-colonel, who was deputy head of one of the police stations in Mosul, were shot dead in their car yesterday, police said.
Earlier in the day, attackers killed the sister of an Iraqi translator working for the US army in Mosul and wounded her brother, police and the US military said.
Iraqis working as translators and cleaners for the occupiers have been repeatedly attacked by guerrillas. Police have also been targeted, both by gunmen and by suicide bombers who have destroyed several police stations.
The past week has also seen a surge in deadly attacks on US soldiers. Roadside bomb blasts in and near Baghdad have killed nine soldiers since Wednesday.
Since the start of the war to oust Saddam almost a year ago, 389 US troops have been killed in action in Iraq - 274 of them since Washington declared major combat over on May 1st.
An opinion poll offered the US mixed news. It suggested most Iraqis feel life has improved since Saddam was ousted, but one in six believes killing occupying troops is justifiable, and one in 25 said that aid workers are legitimate targets. Nearly six in 10 said the situation in Iraq was somewhat better or much better than it was before Saddam was toppled.
While most Iraqis resent the presence of foreign troops, many say they should stay until security is properly restored. - (Reuters)