Blasts Kill 14 in Baghdad, Northern Iraq

AP ^ | 6/1/04 | SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI

[TexKat]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded Tuesday in central Baghdad outside the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, killing three people and injuring 20, the military said.

A roadside bomb also exploded near the U.S. military base in Beiji in northern Iraq, killing 11 Iraqis — including seven members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps — and wounding 23 others. Two U.S. 1st Infantry Division Soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a combat hospital, together with 16 Iraqis who were hurt.

The Baghdad blast ripped through the building in the early afternoon, shortly after a party attended by hundreds of people. The event was intended to celebrate the founding of the PUK, which is seen as being close to the Americans.

Ambulances raced to the scene near the headquarters of the U.S.-run coalition, and U.S. troops kept people back. TV video showed debris and a charred wall of a building.

Under the leadership of Jalal Talabani, the PUK represented one of the main anti-Saddam forces on Iraqi soil after the Gulf War. Fighters from the party backed American forces in last year's invasion.

Talabani, who holds a seat on the Governing Council, was not in the offices when the blast occurred, a party spokesman said.

Most of the injured were outside the offices and were struck by flying glass, said Lt. Col. Robert Campbell of the 38th Calvary Unit in the 1st Calvary Division.

The bomb was one of several blasts heard in the capital just after reports circulated that Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, current head of the Iraqi Governing Council, had been selected as president of the interim government set to take power June 30.

Another blast, followed by gunfire, sent a cloud 100 feet billowing into the dusty air hanging over the city. The blast near the PUK offices was heard shortly afterward.

Coalition aircraft could be heard flying over Baghdad.

The Beiji blast occurred around 9 a.m. outside the gates of the 1st Infantry Division's forward operating base, Summerall, about 155 miles north of Baghdad, Capt. Bill Coppernoll said.

[TexKat]

A car is extinguished as a man looks at a crater in central Baghdad following a car bomb. Iraq's new government was sworn in with Sunni Muslim tribal leader Ghazi al-Yawar as president, but there were no celebrations as a bloody wave of explosions killed at least three people in the capital.(AFP/Roberto Schmidt)

An Iraqi man recovers human body parts at the scene after a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, June 1, 2004 outside the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan near the green zone headquarters of the U.S.-run coalition (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

An Iraqi man recovers human body parts at the scene after a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday , June 1, 2004 outside the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan near the green zone headquarters of the U.S.-run coalition (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Iraqis in a Baghdad cafe watch a television as UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announces the appointment of the country's president of the interim government June 1, 2004. The Iraqi Governing Council was dissolved Tuesday after the appointment of an interim government that will take over at the end of June, a member of the outgoing body said. 'The Governing Council dissolved itself today. It no longer exists,' Mahmoud Othman, who has been appointed a minister of state in the new line-up, told Reuters. Photo by Akram Saleh/Re

[nuconvert]

I hope these bombings strengthen the resolve of the Iraqis.
Waiting to read some blogs about this.

[TexKat]

I hope these bombings strengthen the resolve of the Iraqis. So do I nuconvert

Suicide Car Bomb North of Baghdad Kills 11 Iraqis

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle at the entrance to a U.S. military base north of Baghdad Tuesday, killing at least 11 Iraqis and wounding 20 others and two American soldiers, the U.S. military said.

The attack occurred at a military base near Baiji, an oil-refining town 112 miles north of Baghdad.

Iraqi police Captain Sabah Mahmoud said the bomber drove a black BMW car toward the base and detonated it at the entrance.

"I saw five cars ablaze and people scattered everywhere," said Amir Ismael, a 38-year-old man wounded in the abdomen and thigh.

The blast came on the day Iraq's new government was announced. The government will formally take over sovereignty from the U.S.-led administration on June 30.