Police: Bomb in northern Iraq kills 2

[February 16, 2010]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- A car bomb exploded Tuesday outside a police crime lab in northern Iraq, killing at least two people, Iraqi authorities said.

The bomb targeting the lab was the latest in a string of attacks against security forces in Mosul, an area where insurgents retain a foothold despite a sharp drop in violence across the rest of the country.

The car bomb was parked outside a side entrance to the lab in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Salim Ibrahim, an area commander.

It wounded seven people, including five police officers, he said.

The explosion knocked over concrete blast walls and caused minor damage to the building, Ibrahim said.

In recent weeks in and around Mosul, security checkpoints have been attacked in drive-by shootings and the motorcade of the provincial governor was attacked.

Tuesday's attack follows a suicide bombing last month that destroyed the Baghdad's main crime lab and left at least 22 dead.

Gunmen also opened fire on two Christian college students waiting at a bus stop in Mosul, killing one and wounding the other, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Christians have been routinely been the targets of sectarian violence since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.

The attacks come at sensitive time for Iraqi security forces, who are under fire to shore up security after lapses that allowed for attacks against a number of government sites.

The U.S. military has warned of a possible escalation in violence ahead of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections.

Political tensions between the Shiite-led government and minority Sunnis have been on the rise after a vetting committee barred hundreds of candidates from running because of ties to Saddam Hussein outlawed Baath Party.

An explosion late Monday targeted the Baghdad political office of al-Ahrar, a party that includes followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, police said.

Punched-out round holes in the office walls indicate that at least two rockets were fired at the building, observers said. Officials blamed a roadside bomb for the explosion, which killed one person and wounded three, including Majid Hussein Taha -- a director of the Ministry of Agriculture and a candidate running on the party's ticket.

[Associated Press; By HAMID AHMED]

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