Reports: 4 bridges seriously damaged by blasts in last 4 days; Attacks threaten infrastructure

Above: A soldier maneuvers through the rubble of the bridge destroyed in Mahmudiyah on Sunday in a car-bomb attack in which three troops died.

Iraqi police: Insurgents attack 4th bridge in as many days

Wednesday's bridge attack targeted the Zikaytoon overpass southwest of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad. It appeared to be part of a coordinated campaign against key transportation arteries across the country.

Suspected insurgents planted explosives under the bridge, and the blast went off around 6 a.m., said police Brig. Sarhat Qader. Part of the bridge was destroyed, but no one was injured, Qader said.

On Tuesday, suspected Sunni insurgents also bombed and badly damaged a span over the main north-south highway leading from Baghdad.

Two days earlier, a suicide truck bomber brought down another bridge on that main highway south of Baghdad, in a blast that killed three U.S. soldiers standing guard there.

On Monday, a parked truck bomb destroyed a bridge carrying traffic over the Diyala River in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. There were no casualties, but vehicles were being forced to detour to a road running through al-Qaida-controlled territory to reach important nearby cities.

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Iraq militants blow up bridge between Kirkuk and Tikrit

Baghdad - Militants reportedly blew up a bridge linking the northern city of Kirkuk to Tikrit, police sources told Voices of Iraq news agency Wednesday...

Bridge explosions have become common in Iraq since April after a truck bomb damaged the key Serafiya bridge and three days later a suicide car bomber blew himself up on the busy Jadariya bridge which runs over Baghdad's Tigris River...

On May 12, a double explosion, reported near two bridges in southern Baghdad, killed at least 22 people, including eight policemen.

In late May, a bridge in western Baghdad linking the Adl and Khadra districts was destroyed by explosives. Four days later militants had booby-trapped a bridge linking the Amiriya and Khalidiya districts, 30 kilometres south-west of Fallujah, causing an explosion that damaged the bridge seriously.

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al-Qaida Targets Iraqi Infrastructure

BAGHDAD (AP) - Suspected al-Qaida bombers stepped up attacks on key transportation arteries, striking a bridge north of the capital Monday a day after shutting the superhighway south of Baghdad with a huge explosion that collapsed an overpass and killed three U.S. soldiers.

The latest attack, a parked truck bomb, blew apart the bridge that carries traffic over the Diyala River in Baqouba, police said on condition they not be identified by name because they feared retribution. There were no casualties, but motorists and truckers now must use a road that runs through al-Qaida-controlled territory to reach important nearby cities...

The attacks on the bridges were only the latest in a campaign to deepen turmoil in Iraq , especially on the vital transportation network linking Baghdad to the rest of the country.

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