8 Killed in Iraq Violence
3 US Soldiers Wounded in Mosul Bombing

Mark Turner of the Financial Times in Baghdad reports that the violence continues in Iraq. He writes, "The spate of post-transition violence in Iraq showed no sign of let-up yesterday, as insurgents bombed an airfield in Mosul, a senior interior ministry official was assassinated in Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on five women cleaners working for the US company Bechtel in Basra, and kidnappers seized two Jordanian drivers."

In Mosul guerrillas detonated a carbomb outside the gate of the airport, wounding 3 US soldiers and two Iraqi security men, and killing three bystanders along with the bomber.

A guerrilla assassinated Musab al-Awadi, an Interior Ministry deputy minister in charge of tribal affairs, who had been attempting to smooth relations with Sunni tribal chieftains in the strife-torn Sunni heartland.

Bloomberg also reports that guerrillas fired on a bus in Basra that was carrying workers for a Western company to the airport, killing two women and wounding three others. The employer is variously reported as Hart Security, a British company, and Bechtel.

Guerrillas continued to kidnap foreign guest workers in Iraq, having taken some 70 hostage in the past few months. The kidnappings have a dual purpose, serving as a means of extorting money from the hostages' families and employers, and as a way of forcing the employers out of the Iraq market. The extortion then funds the further activities of the terror cell. (This technique was pioneered by the tiny Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines).

But his captors released an Egyptian diplomat on Monday.