BAGHDAD –Iraqi security forces
bolstered checkpoints and banned motorcycles from the streets of
Baghdad as they prepared Sunday for more violence before this week’s
withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from the capital and other cities and
towns.
Despite the increased checks, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. convoy in easternBaghdad wounded six bystanders. It was unclear if anyone in the convoy was injured, police said.
A car bomb also exploded in the parking lot of a police academy in western Baghdad, killing onepolice officer and wounding six others, police said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Iraq’s main Sunni political bloc joinedShiitePrime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in describing the June 30 deadline for the U.S. withdrawal fromurban areas as a turning point for the country.
Al-Maliki’s government has declared Tuesday National Sovereignty Day and decreed a public holiday.
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