Date:30/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/30/stories/2004123002131400.htm

International

Many killed in Baghdad blast

BAGHDAD, DEC. 29. At least 29 persons were killed and 18 others injured in a powerful explosion in west Baghdad, police said today.

Police patrols were en route to a raid in Baghdad's Ghazaliya neighborhood yesterday after an anonymous call tipped them about a suspected militant hideout in the neighbourhood, an official in Ghazaliya police station said. As they were about to enter the house, an explosion ripped from inside, he added. The dead included seven policemen. Six houses collapsed in the blast and several people are believed to be still trapped e. Militants regularly target Iraq's security forces in their bid to undermine security and reconstruction in Iraq.

— AP