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Iraq suicide bomb hits key bridge Iraq suicide bomb hits key bridge
(about 1 hour later)
A suicide bomber has attacked a bridge north of Baghdad, sending cars plunging into the river and killing at least 10 people, Iraqi police said. A suicide lorry bomber has attacked a bridge north of Baghdad, sending cars plunging into the water and killing at least 10 people, Iraqi police said.
The Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji lies on the main road from Baghdad to the northern city of Mosul. The Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji lies on the main road from Baghdad to Mosul.
Earlier, four people were killed in Baghdad in a US military raid. Earlier, US troops said they killed four gunmen in Baghdad, but local officials said at least three of the victims were civilians.
Reports say civilians were among those killed in the latest incursion into the densely populated Shia area of Sadr City, but the US military denied this. Separately, three Iraqi ministers whose party had been boycotting government meetings, attended the latest session.
Also on Tuesday, an American soldier was killed in an attack in western Baghdad and three others died in a bomb blast in the northern province of Nineveh. The move comes as politicians from some of Iraq's main political parties are holding informal talks ahead of a summit called this week by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to try to resolve their differences.
Political summit Also on Tuesday, the US military said four US soldiers had been killed in two separate attacks in Baghdad and the northern province of Nineveh on Monday.
Meanwhile Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said he hopes the country's fractured government can be rebuilt, and key legislation agreed, after a political summit to be held later this week. 'Bridge collapses'
Most Sunni Arabs have withdrawn from the administration of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, whose cabinet is now narrowly based on Shia Muslim religious parties and Kurdish groups. The suicide lorry bomber attacked the Thiraa Dijla bridge at noon, police said.
He detonated his payload after passing through an Iraqi army checkpoint near the bridge in Taji, about 20km (12 miles) north of Baghdad.
The explosion killed at least 10 people and sent a number of vehicles plunging in the canal, which links the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The number of injured was not immediately known.
Reports say the bridge collapsed after the blast.
Government hopes
On the political front, the three minister from the mixed Sunni-Shia Iraqi National List of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi unexpectedly attended a government session.
They were among five ministers who last week began the boycott of Mr Maliki's government over what they said was its failure to end sectarian violence.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he hoped Iraq's fractured government could be rebuilt, and key legislation agreed, after this week's summit.
Most Sunni Arabs have withdrawn from the administration of Mr Maliki, whose cabinet is now narrowly based on Shia Muslim religious parties and Kurdish groups.
Washington has expressed its frustration with the slow pace of political reform, a central goal of its recent military build-up was to give Iraqi politicians the space to make real progress.Washington has expressed its frustration with the slow pace of political reform, a central goal of its recent military build-up was to give Iraqi politicians the space to make real progress.
But Mr Zebari told the BBC he hoped that, if consensus was achieved, the Iraqi parliament would pass bills on the division of oil revenues and other divisive issues when it reconvenes next month.
'Civilian deaths''Civilian deaths'
Reports say that one of those killed in the raid on Sadr City was a five-year-old girl sleeping with her family on the roof. Later in the morning, angry mourners marched through the slum's streets with flag-draped coffins. The US military said on Tuesday that its troops killed four gunmen in Baghdad's Sadr City. But local officials said that three civilians were killed in the raid.
"The Americans raided our house from the roof. They were jumping from one roof to another. They jumped onto our roof and killed my brother and my five-year-old niece," Ali Khamis Eidan, a policeman, told the Reuters news agency. They said one of the victims was a young girl sleeping with her family on the roof.
Hospital officials say that they received three corpses, including that of a young girl and her father, both with gun wounds to the head, Reuters reported. Later in the morning, angry mourners marched through the area with flag-draped coffins.
"The Americans raided our house from the roof... and killed my brother and my five-year-old niece," Ali Khamis Eidan, a policeman, told the Reuters news agency.
The US military in Iraq denied killing any civilians in the raid.The US military in Iraq denied killing any civilians in the raid.
Sadr City, home to about a third of Baghdad's six million people, has been a focus of American raids in recent weeks.Sadr City, home to about a third of Baghdad's six million people, has been a focus of American raids in recent weeks.
It is a stronghold in the capital of Shia militias largely loyal to cleric Moqtada Sadr.It is a stronghold in the capital of Shia militias largely loyal to cleric Moqtada Sadr.