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Iraqi gas tanker blast kills six Fresh violence rocks Iraq capital
(about 2 hours later)
Iraqi police say six people have been killed and 105 injured after a gas tanker exploded in the town of Taji, north of the capital, Baghdad. The US military in Iraq says another five American soldiers have been killed by insurgents in the past day.
The blast happened after the driver had parked the tanker, security officials said, suggesting it was an attack. Three US troops died in a roadside bomb in south-west Baghdad and two more in a suicide car bombing targeting a newly set up combat outpost north of Baghdad.
But police said it was still not clear if it was a bombing or an accident. Separately, six people were killed and 105 injured when a chemicals tanker exploded in Taji, north of the capital.
Dozens of people, including many children, were overcome by fumes from the tanker which was believed to be carrying chlorine gas. And two car bombs killed at least eight other people and wounded 30 in south-west and south Baghdad.
Correspondents say the attacks come as militants are showing increasing defiance to a major security operation launched by US forces and their Iraqi government allies.
The outpost in Tarmiya, set up under the new security plan, was badly damaged when it was hit be an explosives-laden vehicle.
The head-on attack was described as unusual for both the tactics and the target.
Insurgents mainly stay away from direct assaults on well-armed US military compounds.
'Al-Qaeda operation'
US forces have set up cordons throughout Tarmiya, about 50km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, and launched searches for insurgent hideouts.
Iraqi Defence Ministry officials said the head-on attack bore the hallmarks of an operation by al-Qaeda in Iraq
In all, 19 troops were also injured in the two attacks on US forces on Monday.
The blast in Taji happened after the driver had parked the tanker, security officials said, suggesting it was an insurgency attack rather than an accident.
But police said the cause was still not clear and gathered evidence from the scene.
Dozens of people, including many children, were overcome by fumes from the tanker, which was believed to be carrying chlorine gas.
People treated at hospitals had trouble breathing and were vomiting, medical sources said.People treated at hospitals had trouble breathing and were vomiting, medical sources said.
Police quoted by Reuters news agency said the blast in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) from Baghdad might have been a bomb attack but they were also investigating whether it could have been an accident. In Baghdad itself, a car rigged with explosives blew up in a street in Sadiya - a mixed Sunni-Shia Muslim area in the south-west - killing at least three people and injuring 12, police said.
Then a suicide car bomber drove into a vegetable market in the southern Shia enclave of Dora, killing at least five people and injuring 19, police said.