Car bomb at bridge defused

Recent attacks seem to target Iraqis who cooperate with Americans.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A car bomb on a major oil route in the north was defused, and Iraqi police killed an attacker after gunmen opened fire today at a checkpoint south of Kirkuk.
The car was discovered late Thursday on the al-Hawija bridge on a highway used by coalition forces and oil tankers transporting crude from the northern oil fields in Kirkuk to Iraq's biggest refinery in Beiji, Kirkuk Police Chief Gen. Turhan Youssef said. Al-Hawija bridge is just south of Kirkuk, which is 150 miles north of Baghdad.
Youssef said Iraqi police found the car and informed coalition forces, who defused the bomb. Later, four people were arrested on suspicion of involvement, he said.
Today, six gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint of the Iraqi Civil Defense Forces in Salman Beg, 55 miles south of Kirkuk. One attacker was killed and another injured in retaliatory fire, said Gen. Anwar Amin, the ICDF chief in Kirkuk.
Iraqis targeted
Many recent attacks appear to have been targeting Iraqis seen as collaborating with the U.S.-led occupation. Eleven Iraqis, mostly members of the civil defense corps, were wounded Thursday in a roadside bombing in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad.
Shopkeepers in Ramadi, a pro-Saddam city west of Baghdad, reported receiving leaflets Thursday warning Iraqis to stop working for or with Americans within 10 days or face death.
The undated statement was signed by a previously unknown group, "Anbar Mujahedeen Brigade, the Military Unit." Anbar is the province that includes Ramadi.
The commander of coalition forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, warned Thursday that Al-Qaida is trying to "gain a foothold" in Iraq, citing the recent arrest of a key operative.
Sanchez said Al-Qaida's signature techniques -- car bombs and suicide attacks -- had been on display for some time, and Hasan Ghul's arrest added another piece in the jigsaw.