20 Days to Iraqi Elections

ABC News:

Gunmen on Monday assassinated Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son, police said, while a huge roadside bomb in southwestern Baghdad destroyed a U.S. armored vehicle and killed two American soldiers, the military said.

The Bradley Fighting Vehicle is one of the more heavily armored U.S. military vehicles, suggesting that the roadside bomb was more powerful than those typically used in recent months. The Defense Department said last week that insurgents were increasing the size and power of the bombs they plant as they escalate their attacks before the Jan. 30 election.

Four American soldiers also were wounded in the blast. It came four days after another powerful roadside bomb hit a Bradley, killing all seven U.S. soldiers inside and destroying the vehicle.

Also Monday, a roadside bomb attack in Samarra hit a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, killing two Iraqi soldiers and wounding one Iraqi soldier and two Americans.

Monday's deaths brought the number of American troops killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003 to at least 1,355, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,058 have died as a result of hostile action.