Baghdad — Car bombers blasted targets in two Iraqi cities Tuesday, killing 15 people — including a U.S. soldier — and wounding 50. Six European soldiers died when munitions they were transporting exploded south of Baghdad.
The Europeans — two Poles, three Slovaks and a Latvian — were killed in Suwayrah, 40 kilometres south of Baghdad. The deaths were the first fatalities for Slovakian and Latvian forces in Iraq, Polish army spokesman Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski said in Warsaw.
Poland has now lost six soldiers in Iraq. “This does not make our presence and mission in Iraq easy,” Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka said. “But we cannot talk of any reaction in terms of the length of our mission.”
A bomb apparently went off in a truck carrying munitions to be defused, Col. Gnatowski said. General Mieczyslaw Bieniek, commander of a Polish-led multinational force, told Poland's TVN24 he could not rule out that the vehicle was hit by enemy fire, even though the area was closed.
An Iraqi policeman peers into the wreckage Tuesday following a car bomb and roadside bomb attack in the northern city of Mosul. (Mujahed Mohammed/AFP)
The first of the car bombings occurred at a checkpoint just outside the gate of a U.S. military base in Baqouba, about 50 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, Major Neal O'Brien said.
American troops were preparing to inspect a vehicle when it exploded, killing one U.S. soldier and five Iraqis, the U.S. military and police said. Fifteen Iraqis and 10 U.S. soldiers were wounded.
A second car bomb exploded in the northern city of Mosul as a convoy of provincial council members passed by. The council members escaped injury, officials said, but nine other people died and about 25 were injured, according to the U.S. military. Mosul's deputy police chief was injured, but not seriously.
Afterward, attackers fired several mortar rounds at a coalition military base camp in Mosul. Two civilian contract employees were wounded, the U.S. military said.
More violence occurred in Anbar province, a Sunni Muslim area west of Baghdad that has been at the forefront of the Iraqi insurgency. The U.S. command announced that a marine was killed in action Monday in Anbar, but gave no details.
On Monday night, a bomb exploded in Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, as a convoy of westerners passed by, witnesses and police said. The unidentified westerners reportedly fired back. Hospital officials said eight Iraqis were killed and three wounded.
Gunmen opened fire Tuesday on U.S. marines guarding the police station in the Anbar town of Karma, touching off a firefight, witnesses said.
One witness, Abbas Khalaf, said the gunmen had warned businessmen to close their shops before the attack.
Dr. Hatem Sameer at the Fallujah General Hospital said seven people, including two women, were killed and 15 were wounded in the clashes. He said more victims were taken to another hospital. Dr. Sameer said several victims came from one family, whose house was hit by a projectile.
In Baghdad, the U.S. officials said America commandos rescued four hostages — three Italians and a Pole. Separately, Iraqi militants disclosed they had kidnapped seven Turks and threatened to abduct more foreigners working with U.S. forces.
Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior U.S. officer in Iraq, announced the rescue but gave few details. He said the operation occurred south of Baghdad but did not say where. He also said several people had been arrested.
The Italian hostages, who were in Iraq as private security guards, were abducted in April. A fourth Italian was slain shortly after the kidnapping.
The Polish hostage works for the Jedynka construction company. He was abducted last week after seven men stormed the company's Baghdad office. Another Polish worker abducted at the same time managed to escape.
A videotape obtained by Associated Press Television News showed three new Turkish hostages surrounded by armed men wearing masks. Four other hostages were shown to reporters separately.
The tape showed three men crouching on the floor, holding passports opened to the photo page.
