Source: AP, 10-4-2009

Five US soldiers were among seven people killed in a truck bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today, according to the US military, in what was the deadliest attack against US forces this year.
A sixth US soldier and 17 Iraqi policemen were also wounded in the blast that took place near the national police headquarters in southwestern Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city and al-Qaida's last urban stronghold.

The bombings continue to threaten the city, which US troops must leave by 30 June under an agreement with the Iraqis. The approaching deadline has raised fears about what will happen after US soldiers depart.

Lt Col Michael Stuart, chief of US operations in Mosul, said the target was the Iraqi national police complex and not the US patrol. He said the American patrol just happened to be on the same street when the attack occurred.
"It was just bad timing," he said.

The bomber made a sharp turn as he approached the police complex, then rammed his truck through an iron barrier, hitting a sandbagged wall beyond it and detonating his vehicle near the station's main building, Iraqi police said. The blast shook the entire complex, according to witnesses and police.

The US military said two people were detained in connection with the attack and the names of those killed were being withheld pending notification of families.
Today's blast was the deadliest single bombing attack against US troops this year. A car bomb struck a US patrol in Mosul on 9 February, killing four American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter. Also, four US soldiers were killed on 26 January when two helicopters collided over the northern city of Kirkuk.

Although US combat troops have to leave Iraqi cities by the end of June under the US-Iraqi security agreement that went into effect this year, the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Raymond Odierno, told The Times this week that the American troops may have to stay in Mosul and another northern city, Baqouba, after the deadline because insurgents there remain active.

The policemen wounded in Friday's blast were taken to a nearby hospital, said a Mosul police officer with the provincial command. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Mosul had been relatively quiet recently compared with Baghdad where attacks killed at least 53 people this week.