15 Iraqi Soldiers Missing After Attack

Insurgents attacked an Iraqi military bus west of the capital Friday and 15 Iraqi soldiers were missing and feared kidnapped, as insurgent violence and intimidation escalated.

A senior American officer acknowledged that violence and threats by insurgents might keep some people in Baghdad away from the polls on Jan. 30.

The bus was taking Iraqi soldiers to a U.S. military post when it was struck by rocket-propelled grenades near Baghdadi, about 100 miles west of the capital, said an Iraqi national guard officer who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Hesham.

He said the bus had burned, but no bodies had been found, raising fears that the troops had been taken prisoner.

In Baghdad, Iraqi police ambushed a group of gunmen in a Sunni neighborhood known as a stronghold of support for Saddam Hussein, killing seven, police Capt. Ahmed Ismael said. The fight occurred near the Abu Hanifa Mosque, whose clerics are outspoken opponents of the election.

The bus attack was the latest in an increasing number of assaults on Iraqi security forces as the country prepares for balloting. Iraqis will choose a 275-member transitional national assembly in the first election since the overthrow of Hussein’s regime in April 2003.

The Bush administration hopes the election will be a major step in the building of a democracy and set the stage for the withdrawal of military forces.

Despite the threats, U.S. and other foreign troops plan to stay in the background during the balloting. They will turn over primary security responsibility to Iraqi forces, although the Iraqis have been criticized for poor performance and training.

Brig. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, deputy commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, said violence could keep some Baghdad residents away from the polls.

He warned of a further surge in violence before the election and said there was no guarantee that a major attack could be prevented. In Iraq’s north, three officials of a Kurdish party were killed in attacks.

Gunmen also killed an Iraqi election official in western Baghdad late Thursday, police said, at least the seventh such killing. Attackers in a passing car shot Abdul Karim Jassem Ubeidi as he headed home, police said.

Sunni militants Friday claimed that they were behind the assassination Wednesday of a Shiite community leader who had promoted the election on behalf of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

Ansar al Islam said it killed Sheik Mahmoud Madaini because he was a “big supporter of the elections.”

“We ... call upon all brother citizens not to participate in the elections because we are going to attack voting centers,” Ansar al Islam said in a statement posted on a website used by insurgents.