One Iraqi official assassinated, several Iraqis killed in various operations

Gunmen in Baghdad killed yesterday one senior official at the Iraqi ministry of the Interior, Col. Musab al-Awadi, as he was out of his house escorted by two guards.

A spokesman for the Iraqi ministry of the interior said that unidentified gunmen opened fire at al-Awadi who occupies the post of the deputy chairman of tribal affairs at the ministry and killed him instantly.

On the other hand, a spokesman for the American forces in Iraq said that one Iraqi women and one child were killed in a booby trapped car explosion before Musil airport Gate which is taken by the American forces as a headquarters.

The operation also resulted in wounding five American soldiers and three Iraqi police members.

In Baghdad one booby trapped car went off but no casualties were reported. Sources at the Iraqi police said that the explosion took place near al-Sarafeyah bridge in the downtown of Baghdad.

A security source said that one car went off on a road often used by police patrols and only the engine was left of the car which was thrown for 20 meters from its place and its parts were scattered because of the force of the explosion.

In another field development two women were killed and other two injured in Basra when unidentified persons opened fire at a bus carrying several workers at Basra International airport which is used by the British forces.

A medical source said that the four women were in a minibus taking them in al-Mishraq quarters in the downtown of the city, adding that the two men were seriously wounded in the head and the arms. Witnesses said that " five men were in the minibus when it was attacked by four gunmen who were able to escape." Witnesses said that the fifth women threw herself on the floor of the bus at the fire attack and she escaped injury.