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Convoy Struck by Insurgents; Guard Is Killed

Jan-30-2005 » Filed Under: Iraq News

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By CHRISTINE HAUSER

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 30 - The men were dressed in black. They stood on the side of the road in a group, intently watching the street. The deputy governor of Mosul sped by them in a convoy with bodyguards in police vehicles, their lights flashing.

Seconds later, a roadside bomb exploded with a deafening crack, hitting a police vehicle and claiming another victim in the kind of attack that has made Mosul one of the most notoriously dangerous cities in Iraq.

Voter momentum here on Sunday was strong, the American military said, even as roadside bombs, mortars and gunfire continued.

In Mosul to cover the elections, a reporter traveling in the official convoy got a firsthand look at what has become an everyday occurrence in a place considered one of the worst for insurgent violence.

The target appeared to be the police vehicle carrying bodyguards for the deputy governor, Khasro Goran, who was visiting polling stations. One guard was Khalil Ismail, 23.

After the blast, black smoke burst from the street as Mr. Ismail's police vehicle swerved crazily, then sped away with the rest of the convoy.

Gunfire blasted from AK-47's pointed out the car windows and from machine guns mounted on top of the vehicles, spraying bullets in all directions in case the bomb was just the first of many.


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