IRAQ: At least 15 killed and 85 others wounded in Baghdad violence

At least 14 people were killed and 75 wounded in a car bomb attack in central Baghdad on Wednesday (October 4, 2006) which interior ministry sources said targeted the convoy of Iraq's Industry Minister. Police sources said the attack targeted Industry Minister Fawzi al-Hariri and three of his bodyguards were killed. Hariri's spokeswoman said the drivers and bodyguards of one of his deputies were on their way to get fuel when the attack occurred. The car bomb detonated in the capital's Karrada district in the Christian neighbourhood of Camp Sara, police said. A subsequent roadside bomb blast also caused casualties. "A bomb exploded, they said it was a bomb but we are not sure. We heard a big bang and 3 or 4 minutes later, the entire building exploded. The building exploded," said Emad Shaalan, an eye-witness. Mangled wreckage lay on the road and nearby shops were damaged, witnesses said. Hariri is from the Kurdish bloc and a fluent English speaker who makes regular appearances on Western television channels. Four other bombs detonated in different areas of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, raising the total death toll to 15, with 85 wounded. A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol wounding a policeman and a civilian in al-Wathiq square in central Baghdad, police said. In the southern Baghdad district of al-Saidiya, police reported another roadside bomb which exploded close to Iraqi police commandoes wounding four soldiers. At a checkpoint leading to the al-Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, a third roadside bomb exploded next to a convoy of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) often used by foreign security firms, damaging one vehicle, police said. Witnesses said that they saw four bodies in the car. "Jeeps were driving through the street, the bomb exploded next to the last one. Four were killed in the blast." said Adel Rahman, an eye witness. They said that the U.S. forces sealed off area. There was no immediate report on casualties and the U.S. forces did not comment on the attack. A fourth bomb killed a man and wounded four others in the southern Doura district of Baghdad, police said. Insurgents fighting the Shi'ite-led national unity government have frequently targeted ministers. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hopes a four-point plan agreed by Shi'ite and Sunni politicians can end sectarian violence in Iraq.

ITN Source | October 4, 2006

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