A pair of car bombs killed more than 24 people in Iraq on Saturday, shattering a recent period of calm as Iraq prepares to take over security responsibilities for much of the country. The attacks included one in Baghdad -- the first major attack in more than a week -- that killed at least 22 people and injured 54. Although violence has dropped by more than 80 percent around Iraq and particularly Baghdad, the U.S. military has repeatedly said the improved security conditions remain fragile. The U.S. command said attacks are down from 180 a day last year to about 10 a day this year.
A rare rocket attack in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Saturday night demolished two rooms of a mud-brick home and killed three teenage sisters, ages 13, 15 and 16, the family and police said. "There are 40 countries in Afghanistan, and still we are hit by rockets. What is the benefit?" said Sayed Shah Barat, a cousin of the three girls. There are 41 nations involved in NATO's security coalition fighting Taliban and Al-Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan.
Police in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, tracked and killed an escaped prisoner believed to be a local leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq. The prisoner, Emad Ahmed Ferhan, was among three who had escaped Friday from a prison at a police station in Ramadi after a shootout that left six policemen and seven prisoners dead. Police received a tip Saturday that Ferhan was hiding in a house in central Ramadi. He was shot and killed as he attempted to flee.
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