Attacker in bomb-packed ambulance kills 7 in Iraq

A suicide attacker driving an explosives-packed ambulance crashed through the front gate of an Iraqi guard force headquarters Wednesday, killing at least seven people and toppling a building, officials said.

Along with a suicide bombing a day before that killed 65 people in a crowd of police recruits, the attack shattered a relative calm that had lasted for weeks across Iraq. Both attacks had familiar targets: Militants frequently hit Iraq's security forces to try to keep the country off balance as US troops prepare to fully withdraw at the end of this year. (AP)