Thursday, June 17, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A sport-utility vehicle packed with artillery shells blew up today in a crowd of people waiting to volunteer for the Iraqi military, killing at least 35 people and wounding 138. Another car bomb north of the capital killed six members of the Iraqi security forces.
The explosion in Baghdad, the deadliest attack since a bombing outside another recruiting center in February, was part of a surge of violence on U.S. coalition forces and their Iraqi allies ahead of the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
The blast scattered bodies and debris across a four-lane highway outside Baghdad's Muthanna airport, which is used as a base by both the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the U.S. military. The explosion could be heard for several miles and sent a cloud of smoke over the city.
Iraq's interior minister said he believed an Al-Qaida-linked militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was connected to the bombing.
No American or Iraqi troops were wounded, U.S. Army Col. Mike Murray said. Most of the victims appeared to be poor Iraqis hoping to join the security forces because job opportunities here are limited.
"This clearly again was an attack that has hurt the Iraqi people," Murray said.
Second bombing
Another car bomb exploded this afternoon in a village near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing six ICDC members and injuring four others, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division said. The ICDC is the main internal security force, created by U.S. administrators to battle insurgents.
The bombing came a day after a rocket slammed into a U.S. logistics base near Balad, killing three U.S. soldiers and wounding 25 other people, including two civilian workers.
A top U.S. military official said today's bombing in Baghdad appeared to fit a new pattern from al-Zarqawi's terror network in Iraq: simpler, more frequent car bombings to shake confidence in Iraqi security forces ahead of the hand over.
Asked by reporters if he saw al-Zarqawi's hand in the attack, interim Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib said, "I think there is some links."
"We are quite sure and confident they are not Iraqis," al-Naqib said. "And we have very good indications that they came from abroad."
Al-Naqib said that one of al-Zarqawi's aides had been arrested, though he didn't say, who, where or when.
Victims
Many of the Baghdad victims had just gotten off a bus at about 9 a.m., Murray said.
About 100 volunteers were trying to enter the recruiting center when the white sport-utility vehicle crashed into the crowd, ICDC Capt. Hani Hussein said.
An additional 175 Iraqis already accepted into the security force were inside the gate of the facility, but none of them was injured.
"We were standing, waiting for our turn to register," Rafid Mudhar told The Associated Press from his hospital bed. "All of a sudden, we heard big explosion and most of those standing fell on the ground, including me."
He said he was unconscious for a while, then managed to reach a nearby ambulance.
Bloody bodies covered in dust were scattered around the blast site. One dead man lay prostrate in the center of a highway median.
An artillery shell could be seen lying on the road.
Insurgents in Iraq often fashion bombs out of artillery shells and other military ordnance.
At least 35 people died and 138 were injured, and the toll was likely to increase, health ministry official Saad al-Amili said.
The bombing was the bloodiest single attack since a car bomb killed 47 people Feb. 11, also outside an army recruiting center in Baghdad.
Officials respond
Surrounded by Western security guards and Iraqi police, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi visited the scene of today's blast and described it as a "cowardly attack."
"We are going to face these escalations," he said. "The Iraqi people are going to prevail, and the government of Iraq is determined to go ahead in confronting the enemies, whether they are here in Iraq or whether they are anywhere else in the world."
Yas Khudair, an ICDC member, said all the victims were "poor people" who "wanted to volunteer to support their families."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the string of recent attacks would not affect the hand over of sovereignty.
"The terrorists used to justify their terror, saying it was against the occupation. The occupation is going to end in 12 days time; now the terrorists appear to be trying to stop the transfer of power to the Iraqi people themselves.
"We and the Iraqi people will not be deterred. The transfer of power will take place. Iraqis will take control of their lives," he said.
Britain announced today that it will send more troops to Iraq, increasing the number of soldiers there by 270 to a total of about 9,200.
More violence
In other violence, an explosion next to a convoy of water trucks killed a Hungarian soldier and wounded another today, 40 miles northeast of the Hillah base south of Baghdad, the Hungarian Defense Ministry said.
It was Hungary's first military death in Iraq.
British soldiers clashed with Shiite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in southeastern Iraq after coalition troops detained one of the militia's leaders, but no one was injured, witnesses and the British military said.
Three British military vehicles also were fired upon early today with small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade in two separate attacks in the city of Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, a British military spokesman said. None of the vehicles was damaged, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
The attacks occurred after British forces detained militia leader Ahmed Hachi.
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