Insurgents attack political offices, polls

By The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents staged attacks against U.S. forces, schools to be used as polling stations and political party offices on Wednesday, as they pressed a bloody campaign to undermine Iraq's weekend elections. A U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed in western Iraq.

Three car bombs exploded Wednesday in Riyadh, a tense town north of Baghdad, killing at least five people, including three policemen. One of the car bombs targeted a U.S. convoy but there was no report of casualties, police said.

In Baghdad's Sadr City district, Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops raided a Shiite mosque, detaining up to 25 followers of a radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, police and the cleric's supporters said.

There was no immediate word on casualties in the helicopter crash, which took place Wednesday morning near the town of Rutbah while the aircraft was transporting 1st Marine Division forces, the U.S. military said in a statement.

A search and rescue team has reached the site and an investigation into what caused the crash is underway, the military said.

Meanwhile, a U.S. convoy was attacked on the dangerous road to Baghdad airport and at least one vehicle was destroyed, witnesses said. The U.S. and British embassies banned their staffs from traveling on the road last year because of repeated attacks on the highway. There was no word on casualties.

U.S. troops found at least six bombs at different locations around Baghdad, the military said. Iraqi police discovered two more bombs in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where turnout in the Sunday national elections is expected to be high.

In a statement, the U.S. command said the six bombs were discovered early Wednesday in widely scattered areas of the Iraqi capital.

"We've been very successful finding and destroying improvised explosive devices in Baghdad, limiting the insurgent's ability to kill or injure innocent Iraqis," said Maj. Philip Smith, a spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division and Task Force Baghdad.

The car bombs in Riyadh, located about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk, exploded at a police station, in front of the mayor's office and along a road used by U.S. troops, police said. Nine people were injured in addition to the five deaths.

Residents of the insurgent-filled city of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, reported clashes there Wednesday between U.S. troops and rebels. The fighting erupted when militants attacked a U.S. patrol with rocket-propelled grenades, the residents said. One Iraqi was killed and two were wounded, doctors said.

Insurgents also attacked buildings linked to Sunday's national elections. The rebels have threatened attacks against polling centers, candidates and voters in an attempt to derail the vote.