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Car bombs kill 54 in Baghdad

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published December 12, 2006

BAGHDAD - Two car bombs exploded in a main square of central Baghdad today, killing at least 54 people and wounding 106, police said.

The carefully coordinated attack in Tayaran Square at 7 a.m. involved a bomb in a parked car and a suicide car bomb, both of which exploded simultaneously near a police patrol and a crowd of Iraqis gathering to apply for jobs as day laborers, said police Lt. Bilal Ali.

In other news, a Marine helicopter made a hard landing Monday in a remote desert area of Anbar province, injuring 18 people, the third U.S. aircraft to go down in the insurgent stronghold in two weeks.

The military also announced that three American soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing north of the capital Sunday, putting December on track to be one of the deadliest months of the war.

The CH-53E Super Stallion, the U.S. military's largest helicopter, was conducting a routine passenger and cargo flight with 21 people on board when it went down about noon, the U.S. command said, adding that hostile fire did not appear to be the cause.

Nine of the 18 injured were treated and returned to duty, it said.

On Dec. 3, a Sea Knight helicopter carrying 16 U.S. troops went down in a lake, killing four. On Nov. 27, a U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashed in a field, killing the pilot.

The three American deaths on Sunday raised to 46 the number of U.S. troops who have died this month, an average of 4.6 a day. By comparison, an average of 3.4 were killed each day in October, the fourth-deadliest month of the Iraq war with 105 deaths.

On Monday, Iraq's government struck back at criticism that it has failed to protect Iraqis from the rampant sectarian violence.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari defended army efforts to prevent violence between Shiites and Sunnis in Baghdad, saying government security forces are doing all they can to protect people.

He said one example occurred Monday, when Iraqi soldiers rushed to Ghazaliyah, a primarily Sunni area of west Baghdad, to free 23 Iraqis after they were taken hostage at a checkpoint set up by suspected Shiite militiamen.

[Last modified December 12, 2006, 01:36:37]