Sometimes it is innocent civilians:
A bomb exploded inside a minibus carrying worshippers to a Shiite shrine on Sunday, killing six people in the Iraqi capital, including a 9-year-old child and two women, a police officer said.
Sometimes it is the government's forces:
Separately, police on Sunday reported that a suicide truck bomber followed by dozens of gunmen in a swarm of vehicles launched a coordinated attack on a regional police station north of Baghdad, killing eight Iraqi civilians.
Police fatally shot the suicide bomber but his explosives-laden fuel tanker blew up near police headquarters in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, killing the eight and wounding four other civilians in the late Saturday attack.
Immediately after the blast, about 20 vehicles with at least 60 gunmen drove up to the site and fought with police, said a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.
At least three police officers were wounded in the ensuing fighting, which ended after U.S. military helicopters flew overhead.
Al Qaeda is down but not out. Both incidents bear the signs of al Qaeda--attacks on civilians or suicide bombers.
Al Qaeda massed for the second attack, but their suicide bomber failed because the Iraqi police were alrert and so the target police were not softened up. The Iraqi police fought them to a standstill And then US helicopters scared them off. I guess the main body of attackers wasn't as commited to jihad as the bomb driver.
There are still jihadis out there to be killed. With a bit more work, friendly Iraqis will be doing the killing for us inside Iraq.
