Two car bombs shook the capital in quick succession yesterday, killing at least 11 people, including a US soldier, and wounding 16, US and Iraqi officials said. A Marine was reported killed in action west of the capital.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the violence was expected to increase in the run-up to next year's elections and it was unlikely the US would pull out any troops before then.
A suicide attacker detonated a minibus packed with explosives near an east Baghdad police academy, police Captain 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.
US forces assisted the wounded, including a police recruit who received stitches in his abdomen at the scene. Police recruiting centers have been frequently targeted in an attempt to undercut support for Iraq's security services.
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.
At least eight cars were damaged and shards of glass covered the street.
Another car bomb exploded as US military convoy was passing near a small market in east Baghdad, police Lieutenant Ahmed Hussein said at the scene. One American soldier was wounded in the attack, said Captain Mitchell Zornes of the US 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 have become insurgents' weapon of choice in turbulent Iraq. US 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 yesterday morning. "But again, it will depend entirely on the security situation here in this country."
It was Rumsfeld's first visit here since the US handed over authority to an interim Iraqi government June 28.
With US troops getting killed at a rate of more than one per day in Iraq, Rumsfeld's trip was not announced in advance.
Another Marine was killed in action Saturday in Anbar province, where the air field is located, the military said in a statement. No details were released.
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's government hopes to suppress insurgents and take control of rebel enclaves before the legislative elections planned for January.
Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed Saturday to begin handing in weapons, a significant step toward restoring order in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City slum, a center of Shiite militant resistance.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS