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U.S. troops, insurgents clash west of Baghdad: interior ministry

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005:

BAGHDAD (AP) - Clashes erupted between U.S. troops and insurgents Tuesday in the troubled city of Ramadi west of the capital, leaving at least two people dead, officials said.

In Baghdad, gunmen assassinated the deputy chief of the Interior Ministry's immigration office, Gen. Ghazi Mohammed Issa, in a drive-by shooting in the western suburb of Ghazaliya, a top ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

In an Internet statement, al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Interior Ministry official said gunmen also attacked a convoy of trucks carrying food for the Trade Ministry in Salman Pak, southeast of the capital. Three civilians were killed in the assault and at least one of the trucks was set on fire.

[Gucho]

Sixteen-year-old Haider Ghazi holds a portrait of his assassinated father, Major General Ghazi Mohammed, after he was shot dead by gunmen in Baghdad March 8, 2005. Gunmen shot dead Mohammed, a senior police officer who worked in the Iraqi interior ministry in Baghdad, in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday, ministry sources said. In an Internet statement, al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said it was behind the assassination. REUTERS/Ali Jasim