Iraq jihad update from AP:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Five car bombs targeted American and Iraqi troops across Baghdad Friday, killing as many as 20 people, and the military said two U.S. Marines had been killed the day before by a roadside bomb near the Jordanian border.
In the deadliest attack, a suicide car bomber hit an Iraqi army base in the Shaab neighborhood of northern Baghdad, killing eight Iraqis, including civilians and security personnel, Maj. Khazim al-Tamimi said.
Two Iraqi soldiers died and six were wounded when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near an Iraqi patrol in Andalus Square in central Baghdad, Col. Salman Abdul Karim said.
A car bomb also exploded near a U.S. convoy in the Rustamiyah area of southeastern Baghdad, wounding two Americans, the U.S. military said.
Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 14 people wounded in a suicide car bombing at the former Defense Ministry building in northern Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
Another car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, wounding six people, including a U.S. soldier, police said.
A U.S. military statement put the overall death toll at 20 but gave no breakdown by attack. Al-Qaida’s wing in Iraq claimed responsibility in Internet statements for the attacks in Rustamiyah and Andalus Square, but the authenticity of the claims could not be confirmed…
The two Marines assigned to the Regimental Combat Team 2 of the 2nd Marine Division were killed Thursday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb near Trebil along Iraq’s border with Jordan, the U.S. military said Friday…
Earlier Friday, mortar shells exploded near the headquarters of an Iraqi commando battalion in the Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah of north Baghdad, police said. Three mortars also fell across the Tigris River in the Shiite district Kazimiyah, police added. No casualties or damage were reported in those blasts.
Al-Qaida in Iraq also claimed responsibility for a largely unsuccessful suicide attack Thursday near the Green Zone entrance. The area is home to the U.S. Embassy and major Iraqi government offices…