Iraq & Afghanistan

Another day of violence in Iraq . Some reports suggest up to 60 police recruits were killed this morning in Irbil [or Erbil], northern Iraq, when a suicide bomber set off his device in the queue. The number of injured stands at around 150. The numbers are so far sketchy with some reports from a reporter in Erbil suggesting 90 dead. In Afghanistan US military has said that 21 insurgents were killed in an operation. No US casualties have been reported. The US death toll for the continuing Afghanistan campaign stands at 180. On Tuesday the U.S. military installed a new commander in Afghanistan, a fresh Army general who pledged to be relentless in combating insurgents still dogging the country more than three years after the fall of the Taliban. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry took over from Lt. Gen. David Barno in a ceremony at the U.S. military headquarters in the Afghan capital, Kabul.