Suicide bomber attacks kill 22 Iraqis, injure soldiers

The military announced the arrest of a senior leader in al-Zarqawi's group.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Suicide bombers struck Iraqi security targets Saturday north and west of Baghdad, killing 22 Iraqis, officials said. Six U.S. soldiers were wounded in an ambush on the road to Baghdad airport -- one of the country's most dangerous routes.
Elsewhere, the U.S. military announced the arrest of what it said was a newly promoted senior leader in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror movement -- taken into custody during an early-morning raid near Fallujah.
At least 16 Iraqi policemen were killed and 40 others were wounded when a suicide driver detonated his car at a police station near a U.S. Marine base in Khan al-Baghdadi, 140 miles west of the capital, according to police. No Americans were hurt in the 7 a.m. attack, the U.S. military said.
Second attack
A second suicide driver killed four guardsmen and injured six others in an attack Saturday near an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint in Ishaqi, 6 miles south of Samarra, police said. Another two guardsmen were killed in a convoy attack in the northern part of the city.
The six American soldiers were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol about 7:15 a.m. on the main road linking Baghdad International Airport with the city center. One armored vehicle was destroyed but none of the soldiers received life-threatening injuries, the U.S military said.
Insurgent attacks have increased by 25 percent across the country since the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began last weekend. Most of the recent attacks have been by car and roadside bombs.
The purported al-Zarqawi aide was arrested along with five other people in a pre-dawn raid outside Fallujah, the military said. The person's name was not released, but a U.S. statement said the individual had risen in rank as other al-Zarqawi associates had been killed in U.S. attacks on Fallujah.
Residents identified men
Fallujah residents identified those arrested as Abdel-Hamid Fiyadh, 50, his sons Walid, 18, and Majid, 25, and three relatives. Relatives insisted the men had nothing to do with al-Zarqawi.
Al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for numerous beheadings of hostages -- including Americans -- and suicide car bombings.
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