8 die in blast at school Web site says insurgency mastermind is injured

The death toll from a month of violence surpassed 620.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least eight Iraqis died Tuesday when bombs exploded outside a suburban girls' school and an army recruitment office, and eight more U.S. troops were reported killed in roadside explosions and shootings across Iraq this week.
Meanwhile, a Web site on which the Al-Qaida network often posts declarations suggested that suspected insurgency mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been injured. The posting appealed for Muslims to "pray for our Sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to recover quickly from his wounds."
On the Montada Web site, a message attributed to al-Zarqawi's information chief, Abu Mayzarah Iraqi, said only that the Jordanian exile had been wounded fighting "in the path of God." It appealed for all holy warriors to unite in prayer for his recovery but gave no details of the time, circumstances or extent of his wounds.
"The injuries of our leader are an honor for us and a motivation to tighten the net on the enemies of God," the message stated. The authenticity of the message could not be confirmed and military sources speculated that it could be a false report intended to throw off forces searching for the most-wanted figure in Iraq.
U.S. forces combed hospitals in the Ramadi area late last month after rumors circulated that al-Zarqawi had been treated there after being severely wounded. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture.
A month of heavy violence
Tuesday's blasts pushed the death toll from a monthlong eruption of violence beyond 620, including 57 U.S. soldiers. The new Iraqi government took power on April 28, a step toward stability that appears to have spurred Iraqi insurgents and foreign infiltrators to increase their attacks. In the past four weeks, there have been more suicide bombings than in the previous year, according to officials.
This week, U.S.-backed Iraqi troops have responded with a sweep against suspected insurgents. The U.S. military reported that 428 suspects had been detained in two days under the U.S.-Iraqi crackdown dubbed Operation Squeeze Play. In one raid, authorities said they had found two gunmen with $6 million in cash, raising speculation it might have been a ransom payment for one of the dozens of Westerners abducted by insurgents.
The bombings
The bloodiest attack Tuesday occurred in the Baghdad neighborhood of Karada outside the Dijlah girls' school.
Iraqi police in a pickup truck were pursuing a suspect past the school when a white Volkswagen Passat pulled up next to it and the driver detonated his payload, according to Sgt. Mohammed Abed Alaa. None of the six victims were schoolgirls, he said, although several students were injured.
Local residents lamented the bloodshed in an area with no known military or government offices, more common targets for insurgents. Assassins have killed at least 18 Iraqi government officials this month, and a bombing Monday at a popular restaurant here was believed to have targeted Iraqi police who were regular patrons.
Two Iraqi civilians died in a mortar shell explosion in Kirkuk and five were injured in the same city when gunmen opened fire on an army recruitment office that had been the scene of a deadly suicide bombing three months ago.
Three U.S. troops were killed when a roadside device exploded on their patrol. A fourth U.S. soldier was shot to death in the back of an armored vehicle by gunmen firing from a car, said Baghdad task force spokesman Sgt. David Abrams.
The military also reported the deaths of four U.S. soldiers a day earlier in Haswa, 30 miles south of the capital, in another roadside explosion. The episodes bring to at least 1,642 the number of U.S. service personnel killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Amid the unrest, a self-styled Iraqi Solidarity Committee representing various Shiite groups met to profess commitment to fighting sectarian divisions that have plagued Iraqis since Saddam Hussein's regime fell days after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq more than two years ago.