Children, Iraqi police targeted in insurgent attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a policeman's home northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, killing his four children and his brother and raising the number of Iraqis killed in attacks this weekend to at least 23.\nAlso Sunday, police found the bullet-riddled bodies of nearly two dozen men abducted last week north of Baghdad after being rejected entry into a police academy, officials said.\nThe violence continued as Iraq's political parties began gearing up for talks on a new coalition government that U.S. officials hope will win the confidence of disaffected Sunni Arabs and undermine support for the insurgency. That would hasten the time when U.S. and other foreign troops can go home.\nThere was still no word on the fate of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll two days after a deadline set by her captors. They had threatened to kill the 28-year-old freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor unless all Iraqi women detainees were freed.\nIraqi officials have said they expect the Americans to free six of the nine women they are holding this week. U.S. authorities have not confirmed the claim.\nThe attack on the policeman's home occurred in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, according to the Iraqi police Joint Coordination Center. The officer's four children, ages 6 to 11, and his brother were killed, the center said. The officer was unharmed, but his wife was wounded.\nSunni-led insurgents often target police as part of their campaign to try to undermine support for the U.S.-backed government.\nFour policemen were killed and nine were wounded Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in the tense city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said. Police also said a man was gunned down at a west Baghdad gas station and another was slain in a market in the capital's Amil district.\nThe bodies of the 23 men were found partially buried near Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, said Interior Ministry police Lt. Thair Mahmoud. They had been abducted Wednesday while traveling from Baghdad to their homes in Samarra after failing to be accepted at a police recruit center.\nElsewhere, the bodies of prominent Sunni Arab tribal leader, Sayid Ibrahim Ali, 75, and his 28-year-old son, Ayad, were found in a field near Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad, police said. They were shot as they left a \nfuneral Saturday.\nIn the central city of Mashru, police found the bodies of two blindfolded men who had been shot in the head and chest.\nU.S. soldiers, meanwhile, killed three gunmen firing from several cars north of Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, on Saturday, the military said Sunday. Six Iraqis were detained and soldiers destroyed four cars after one was found rigged for use as a car bomb. 12 other people were reported killed in sporadic violence on Saturday.\nNevertheless, U.S. Brig. Gen. Don Alston said insurgent attacks nationwide fell 40 percent during the week ending Saturday, compared with the previous week. Attacks in Baghdad fell 80 percent for the same period, he told reporters.\nThe reduction in attacks occurred as security was stepped up in Baghdad and other insurgent hotspots ahead of the announcement last Friday of the results of the Dec. 15 national elections for a new parliament. An alliance of Shiite religious parties won the biggest bloc of seats but not enough to govern without partners.