Iraq Interior Ministry Attack Kills 29
Wave Of Attacks Continue Across Iraq; U.S. Chopper Crash Kills 12
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Play CBS Video Video Journalist Kidnapped In Iraq Three gunmen kidnapped freelance reporter Jill Carroll and killed her translator last weekend. Kelly Cobiella has CBS interviews with the translator, a father and lover of American music.
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Video Bombers Hit Iraq Compound CBS News RAW: Two suicide bombers posing as police attacked the Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 29 people. In Baqouba, a car bomb killed two people.
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Video American Troops Killed In Iraq The battle for Iraq took a deadly turn for U.S. forces this weekend. Twelve Americans died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash and five Marines died in separate attacks. CBS News' Kelly Cobiella reports.
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Iraqi armored vehicles are seen driving away from the main entrance of the Ministry of Interior complex which leads to the scene of a twin suicide attack inside in central Baghdad, January 9, 2006. (Getty Images/Karim Sahib)
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Iraqi police and soldiers secure the main entrance of the Ministry of Interior complex which leads to the scene of a twin suicide attack in central Baghdad 09 January 2006. (Getty Images/Karim Sahib)
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A 1999 File photo of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, similar to the one that crashed in Iraq Saturday. (AP)
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Senior party member of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front, Adnan al-Dulaimi, left, listens to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during a meeting at the Presidential Building, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006. (AP)
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Iraqi police and soldiers remove the charred corpse of a suicide car bomber, Friday, Jan. 6, 2006, in central Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Interactive Attacks Map Details on the insurgency and terrorism that has continued to take lives since the fall of Saddam.
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Interactive To The Polls Iraqis vote for their first permanent, democratically-elected government. Find out what's at stake.
With the latest military deaths, at least 2,207 U.S. service members have died since the war started in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The military said it wasn't yet known what caused the crash and an investigation would take some time. The helicopter went down about seven miles east of Tal Afar, a northern city near the Syrian border that has seen heavy fighting with insurgents.
In other violence Monday, gunmen assassinated an investigative judge in Kirkuk, police Capt. Farhad Talabani said. In Baghdad, gunmen fired on three people working on Iraq's de-Baathification commission, killing one, police Capt. Qassim Hussein said. Gunmen also killed an Iraqi intelligence officer and a doctor in separate attacks, Hussein said. Five bodies bound and blindfolded were found shot to death in Baghdad late Sunday, police said. A car bomb exploded west of Baqouba, killing two civilians, police said.
An Internet statement by al-Zarqawi was posted Monday on an Islamic Web site known for publishing extremist material. The authenticity could not be confirmed, but the tape sounded like the Jordanian-born leader of the group.
"This is a call to the Sunnis, in general and the followers of the Islamic Party in particular," al-Zarqawi said, referring to the Islamic Party in Iraq. The party is the biggest political home for Iraq's Sunni Arabs, with Mohsen Abdul-Hamid its spiritual leader.
"Where are you being led to? Don't you fear God?" al-Zarqawi asked.
Referring to the Dec. 15 elections, he said: "At the time, it was very clear to everyone that the crusader enemy was losing, and then you threw a rope to save him."
Al-Zarqawi accused the Islamic Party and Sunnis of collaborating with the United States and said those who voted in the parliamentary elections were "hypocrites."
He asked for divine punishment: "God, curse the leaders of the Islamic Party and those who collaborated with them."
He said the insurgents could have disrupted the elections, "but we did not do it to avoid killing some of the Sunnis who were confused" over whether to take part.
He also said the United States' announcement last month that it will withdraw some troops from Iraq this year was a victory for the Islamic forces.
Three senior members of the Islamic party declined to respond to al-Zarqawi's statement.
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