BAGHDAD, April 29 (UPI) -- At least 27 people were killed and 100 wounded as insurgents targeted Iraqi force with bombs in a horrific three-hour melee in and near Baghdad.
The carnage resulted from two roadside bombs and nine car bombs, seven of which were suicide attacks, CNN reported. The 27 dead does not count the suicide bombers but does include two U.S. Marines and one U.S. soldier, officials said.
Four of the bomb attacks came within 15 minutes of each other and appeared timed to embarrass the newly announced cabinet, officials said.
Police said at least 13 of the dead were Iraqi police or soldiers. Nearly all the attacks came in or near the capital, primarily in minority Sunni communities that have felt estranged from the new Iraqi government, where Kurds and Shias dominate.
A tape purportedly from al-Qaida's Iraqi leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi, called for more attacks on U.S. forces, the BBC said.
