Scores of Iraqis, including many children, were killed Thursday in a series of explosions in Iraq.
In the most serious incident, two bombs went off near a convoy of American military vehicles in southern Baghdad killing at least 42 people, including 35 children, Iraqi police said. More than 130 people were wounded. Witnesses said many of the dead and wounded were attending the opening ceremony of a new sewage system in the area.
Some of the children said they were attracted to the al-Amel neighborhood celebration by American soldiers handing out candy. Ten American troops were wounded.
Police said the first explosion was probably caused by a car bomb and the second bomb detonated shortly afterwards, as American soldiers tried to help those hit in the first blast.
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomb exploded outside a police station in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad.
The US Army said that one US soldier and two Iraqi policemen were killed in that attack, while 13 people were wounded. Hospital officials said at least 60 people were injured in the blast.
The attack targeted a compound in the Abu Ghraib area housing the mayor's office, a police station and other buildings, media reports said. A US Humvee parked in front of the compound was also damaged in the explosion.
In the northern city of Talafar, a car bomb targeting the police chief killed at least four people and wounded 16, Iraqi and U.S. officials said. The police chief escaped from the assassination attempt, reports said. In another northern city, the Kirkuk mayor's chief bodyguard was shot dead in his vehicle, which the attackers then drove away, police said. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
