Double car bombing attack in Mosul kills 26



With a Friday dump truck car bombing that left a massive crater and many dead, Iraqi insurgents frontally assaulted U.S. troops in Mosul, Iraq. Initial reports showed 25 Iraqis and one U.S. soldier dead. (As of this writing, additional information on the bombing was expected.)

Sophisticated attack
Attacking a soldier on patrol close to a U.S. outpost, the insurgents had two bomb vehicles. The first bomb attack was designed to draw out U.S. support troops while the second bomb vehicle in conjunction with mortars and rockets was intended to overrun the American outpost.

As reinforcements arrived, U.S. forces came under automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade fire, Staff Sgt. Don Dees, a military spokesman, said.

The Americans suffered approximately 15 U.S. casualties in addition to the dead before U.S. air strikes forced the insurgents to retreat, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, U.S. military spokesman said.

Lack of control in Mosul
Mosul is Iraq's third-largest city and has become a hotbed of insurgent activity in the past several months. The U.S. military has conceded it is not in control of some parts of Mosul and plans to send more troops for the upcoming election scheduled for Jan. 30.

This latest clash comes as the U.S. has begun a new push in the so-called "triangle of death" south of the capital, attempting to secure the region in the lead-up to the elections.