Car Bombs Shake Baghdad
AP 2004/10/10
Baghdad
Two car bombs shook the capital in quick succession today, killing at least 11 people, including an American soldier, and wounding 16, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Another American was reported killed in action west of the capital.
Meanwhile, a videotape of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley was posted Sunday on the Internet showing the civil engineer making one last plea for help from his government moments before he was killed.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, on a visit with American forces in Iraq, said the violence was expected to increase in the run-up to next year's elections and it was unlikely the United States would pull out any troops before then.
A suicide attacker detonated a minibus packed with explosives near an east Baghdad police academy, police Cap. Ali Ayez said at the scene.
At least four mangled bodies were strewn in the street amid scattered shoes, papers and a handbag. Police collected body parts on stretchers.
The dead included three police academy students and a female officer, Ayez said.
U.S. forces assisted the wounded, including a police recruit who received stitches in his abdomen at the scene.
The nearby Kindi Hospital received 10 bodies and treated five wounded from the blast, said Dr. Ali Ghazi. Police said 15 people were injured in all.
Another car bomb exploded as an American military convoy was passing near a small market in east Baghdad, police Lt. Ahmed Hussein said at the scene. One American soldier was wounded in the attack, said Capt. Mitchell Zornes of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division. The soldier was evacuated for treatment but died at a nearby military medical facility, a military statement said.
The blast also wounded at least one Iraqi bystander and left a gaping crater in the road.
Iraq's most feared terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, claimed responsibility for both attacks in a statement posted on an Internet site known for its Islamic content. The claim could not be verified.
Improvised bombs, some left by the side of the road, others rigged in vehicles, have become insurgents' weapon of choice in turbulent Iraq. U.S. officials are struggling to build up Iraq's own security resources to cope with the threat.
"Our hope is that as we build up Iraqi forces we will be able to relieve the stress on our forces and see a reduction in coalition forces over some period of time, probably post-Iraqi election." Rumsfeld told Marines at Al Asad air field in Iraq's western desert Sunday morning. "But again, it will depend entirely on the security situation here in this country."
It was Rumsfeld's first visit here since the United States handed over authority to an interim Iraqi government June 28.
He had breakfast with senior Marine leaders, including Lt. Gen. John Sattler, the top Marine in Iraq, and Maj. Gen. Keith Stalder, commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, before fielding questions at a "town hall" style meeting with about 1,500 Marines.
"We're so fortunate to be able to count on you in this time of peril," Rumsfeld said to applause as he stood at a makeshift podium inside an aircraft hangar.
With American troops getting killed at a rate of more than one per day in Iraq, Rumsfeld's trip was not announced in advance.
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