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At least 15 dead, 147 injured in Falluja bombings

Other News Materials 4 December 2008 19:05 (UTC +04:00)

Two truck bombs ripped through the Iraqi city of Falluja Thursday, killing at least 15 people and injuring 147, including women and children, local media reported.

The first bomb exploded near al-Tawhid police station, which is near a school. Police imposed a curfew on the city after the blasts, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency cited police sources as saying, reported dpa.

The second bomb exploded north of the city, also near a police station. US forces sent two helicopters to help with the rescue, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel reported.

Falluja is in predominantly Sunni al-Anbar province, which US and Iraqi forces had largely pacified thanks to the US military surge and alliances with local tribesmen.

Anbar is the largest of Iraq's 18 provinces. The volatile province took over its own security from US forces in September.

Separately, US president-elect Barak Obama has told the Iraqi prime minister that he will implement a security agreement between the two countries and is ready to cooperate in fighting terrorism and insurgents in Iraq, reported national television.

Obama told Nuri al-Maliki in a phone conversation on Wednesday night that the two countries have entered "a new phase" in their relations after the signing of the security deal in November.

The agreement calls for US forces to pull back from Iraqi towns and cities by the end of June 2009, and for a complete withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Also Thursday, Iraq's Presidential Council approved the security agreement. Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and his two vice- presidents, Adil Abdel Mahdi and Tariq al-Hashimi, approved the pact that was passed by Iraq's parliament in November.

In different news, a bomb hidden in a motorbike on the side of a road in Baquba exploded, killing three people and injuring another nine. Baquba is located 57 kilometres north-east of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, an explosion in the centre of Baghdad injured three people, including a policeman, VOI reported.

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