Five killed in mortar attack in Samarra

Four U.S. troops and an Iraqi National Guardsman were killed Thursday in the central Iraqi city of Samarra, according to a U.S. military spokesman in Tikrit.

Twenty soldiers and three Iraqis were wounded. One U.S. soldier is missing.

The strike took place at 10:30 a.m., collapsing the National Guard headquarters, which is frequently used by soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division.

The 1st Infantry Division and Iraqi security services patrol the area. First Infantry Division radars located the point from which the mortars were fired and shot back with four 120 mm rounds.

Samarra is 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Thursday's attack brought the number of U.S. troops who have been reported dead since the start of the war to 878 -- 655 of them were killed by hostile fire.

The number of multinational forces reported to have been killed in the war is 998.

Also on Thursday, an Iraqi man was killed in a Baghdad car bombing, police said.

An Iraqi police officer told CNN that a car bomb planted in a man's car exploded when he started it up in the Al-Doura district south of Baghdad.

The incidents come the day after Iraqi officials announced a national security law that gives the interim government the power to declare martial law, detain suspects during anti-terror sweeps and set curfews, according to Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan.

Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi signed the plan into law earlier Wednesday.

"The deteriorating security situation ... urges these laws," al-Hassan said. "[The insurgents] are trying to derail the democratic process."

Any state of emergency order issued by the prime minister must be agreed upon unanimously by the Presidency Council, which includes the president and two vice presidents.

A state of emergency also requires the majority approval of the Council of Ministers, which consists of the prime minister, his deputies and the Cabinet.

The law also provides that if martial law is declared, it cannot exceed 60 days or continue if the conflict has ended -- unless the government has renewed it with the approval of the Cabinet.

"We realize that this law might restrict some liberties, but there are a number of guarantees within this law ... that guarantee the rights of the people," al-Hassan said.

Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin likened the law to the U.S. Patriot Act -- passed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 -- and said it was prepared "to protect the lives of the Iraqi people."

Sourcve: Agencies