Iraqi police say gunmen storm checkpoint west of Baghdad, kill 4

Iraqi police: Gunmen storm checkpoint, kill 4

BAGHDAD — Authorities say gunmen have stormed a checkpoint west of Baghdad, killing four Iraqi police officers.

It is the latest in a series of attacks in which gunmen have targeted Iraqi police and army checkpoints.

Two police officials say gunmen stormed the checkpoint Wednesday morning in the Abu Ghraib area to the west of the capital. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give the information to media.

Earlier this month, gunmen attacked another checkpoint in Abu Ghraib, killing four policemen. A day later, gunmen killed five members of Sunni anti-al-Qaida group manning a checkpoint near Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb killed two men and damaged a historic church in a northern Iraqi city on Wednesday, one day ahead of Christmas Eve services that will be heavily guarded for fear of more attacks on the country’s Christian minority.

The bomb in Mosul was hidden under sacks of baking flour in a handcart left 15 yards (meters) from the Mar Toma Church, also known as Church of St. Thomas, a police officer said.

The officer said the two killed were Muslims, and that five other people were injured. A hospital official confirmed the casualties.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.

“Instead of performing Christmas Mass in this church, we will be busy removing rubble and debris,” Hazim Ragheed, a priest at the church, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The blast damaged the wooden doors, windows, some furniture and one of the walls of the church, which is more than 1,200 years old, Ragheed said. Services will be moved out of the church, but Ragheed did not say where they would be held.

“We demand that the government put an end to these repeated attacks,” Ragheed said.

The blast occurred in an area where streets have been closed to cars and trucks to protect Mosul’s dwindling Christian population.

Iraqi defense officials warned earlier in the week that intelligence reports pointed to attacks during Christmas, leading the government to step up security near churches and Christian neighborhoods.

Most of the increased security will be in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk, said Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari.

Christians have frequently been targeted since turmoil swept the country following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, although the attacks have ebbed with an overall drop in violence. Still, tens of thousands of Christians have fled; many who stayed were isolated in neighborhoods protected by barricades and checkpoints.

A coordinated bombing campaign in 2004 targeted churches in the Iraqi capital and anti-Christian violence also flared in September 2007 after Pope Benedict XVI made comments perceived to be against Islam.

Churches, priests and businesses have been attacked by militants who denounce Christians as pro-American “crusaders.” The body of Paulos Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, was found in March 2008 following his abduction by gunmen after a Mass.

Also Wednesday, a bomb planted on a minibus killed two people and injured five in a Shiite neighborhood in north Baghdad, police and hospital officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.