Attack Outside Iraqi Ministry Kills Two

9 March 2005 -- A well-coordinated attack on Iraq's Agriculture Ministry in central Baghdad left at least two people dead along with a suicide truck bomber, and injured more than 20 others.

Police said gunmen attacked two checkpoints leading to the ministry building, killing at least one guard, and that allowed a garbage truck packed with explosives to get inside the compound.

Security guards then fired on the truck, trying to disable it before it exploded. The massive blast left a crater 10 meters wide, shook buildings, and damaged some 20 vehicles in the parking lot.

(Reuters/AP/AFP/dpa)

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