Iraq - More attacks as Baghdad Airport is closed

Confusion still surrounds the suicide attack on a US convoy near Fallujah yesterday. As initially reported ‘up to six’ US personnel were killed, though the military will only confirm 2 as being dead. One of the dead was a female marine. Three marines and a sailor were reported as missing, according to a report on the BBC. Of the 13 injured, 11 are said to be female. Today there are reports of at least three suicide attacks, one near Samarra and another in Baghdad. In Samarra a suicide bomber drove his car into a house belonging to the Chief of Police. Nine people were killed and 16 were injured. In Mosul, four policemen were killed in another attack. An ambush near Ramadi took the lives of 13 Iraqi police when around 20 insurgents attacked their convoy. And there’s no escape from Baghdad as the airport has been closed to civilian flights after Global, a British company providing security, has withdrawn its services. The company claims that a ‘contractual dispute’ is to blame. The BBC reports that the company has not been paid by the Iraqi government for over three months. When the airport is open, planes run the risk of being shot down. A corkscrew takeoff and descent is usually performed in order to avoid such attacks.
[18:38 GMT 25/06/2005]