Sixteen Killed In Attacks Around Iraq

17 January 2005 -- Gunmen today killed eight Iraqi National Guard soldiers, 11 people died in suicide bombings and four bodies -- three civilians and one Iraqi soldier -- were found in Al-Ramadi.
The eight soldiers were killed in Buhriz, about 55 kilometers northeast of the capital Baghdad.

Another eight people died in a suicide car bombing at a police station in Baiji, about 250 kilometers north of Baghdad. U.S. officials said seven of the dead were police.

Another suicide car bomber struck a U.S. military convoy west of Baghdad, killing three Iraqi civilians.

Four bodies were found today in the western city of Al-Ramadi -- three civilians and one Iraqi soldier. Officials said they bore handwritten signs declaring them collaborators.

Some of the attacks appear aimed at scaring the Iraqi voters away from the 30 January national and provincial elections.

(compiled from wire reports)

[For the latest news and analysis on Iraq going into the 30 January elections, see RFE/RL's webpage on "The New Iraq".]