Al-Qaida leader hurt in Baghdad

Al-Qaida leader hurt in Baghdad

The series of car bomb blasts, which killed at least seven civilians, touched all corners of Baghdad. But it did little to disrupt a security sweep seeking to weaken militia groups' ability to fight US allied forces and each other as Iraq slips further into factional bloodshed.

The attacks, however, pointed to the critical struggle to gain the upper hand on Baghdad's streets. The Pentagon hopes its current campaign of arrests and arms seizures will convince average Iraqis that militiamen are losing ground. Yet each explosion is another reminder of the militants' resources and resolve.

Most of the latest resistance has come from Sunni factions, which perceive their Saddam Hussein-era influence slipping away as the majority Shiites extend their political muscle and bolster ties to powerful Iran.

In Baghdad's Dora neighborhood a longtime Sunni militant hotbed two parked cars wired with explosives were triggered as a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol rolled past. The convoy was unharmed, but the blast killed at least four civilians and wounded 15.

Control of the Dora district, a once upscale neighborhood favored by Saddam's regime, is important as a gateway between Baghdad and the Shiite-dominated south. Two other car bomb blasts came as security forces moved through the capital, killing at least three civilians.

Outside Baghdad, troops also faced Sunni ambushes. In Buhriz, about 30 miles northeast of the capital, Sunni gunmen and soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment engaged in a 20-minute firefight.

No US casualties were reported, and the militant toll was not known. Separately, however, a US Marine was killed in combat in Iraq's western Anbar province, a Sunni militant stronghold.

Around the capital, US and Iraqi soldiers set up dozens of roadway checkpoints and conducted top-to-bottom searches of vehicles and motorbikes. Waiting in a snarl of traffic at one blockade, Mohammed al-Jubouri said people are willing to put up with delays so long as the security sweep shows some results after bombings that have killed hundreds of civilians this year.

After nightfall and the daily citywide curfew US warplanes flew low over Baghdad in an apparent attempt to show the security push is gathering momentum.

In southern Iraq, British and Iraqi security forces closed two border points with Iran at Sheeb and Shalamcha blocking the gates with large metal shipping containers and expanded coastal patrols to monitor maritime traffic into southern Iraq, a statement said.

Authorities also set up checkpoints ringing Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and the commercial hub of the Shiite-dominated south. The British military said the operation would last for 72 hours.

President Bush said Wednesday the Iranian government is providing armor-piercing bombs to kill American soldiers in Iraq, although he backed away from claims the top echelon of Iran's government was responsible.