The Hindu : Front Page : 46 killed in Iraq blasts: Many children among casualties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 01, 2004

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46 killed in Iraq blasts: Many children among casualties

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, SEPT. 30. At least 46 persons have been killed and 208 wounded, including many children in three near simultaneous bomb blasts in south Baghdad today.

The triple explosions targeted a convoy of American military vehicles. The second and third explosions took place when the U.S. troops rushed out to investigate the first car bombing. The coordinated strikes came within hours of suicide car bombing near the Abu Ghraib prison in western Baghdad. Two Iraqi policemen and a U.S. soldier were killed in this incident, while nearly 60 persons, including women and children were injured.

Another American solider died in a mortar attack on a U.S. military base near Baghdad. The spate of explosions is seen part of an effort by the Iraqi resistance to undermine the U.S.-backed plan to hold elections in Iraq in January 2005.

The tussle between the guerillas and the U.S. occupation forces appears to have grown in intensity, with American troops escalating their attacks on the resistance hub of Fallujah and the Shia stronghold of Sadr City on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Daily attacks

The daily attacks on the U.S. troops have also risen from an earlier average of 40 to 80. Persisting with aerial bombardment, the U.S. warplanes launched yet another attack on Fallujah earlier this morning. The U.S. military command said the raid targeted members of the group loyal to the Jordanian militant Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.

Hospital sources said that at least three persons were killed, including one woman and child. Analysts say the Fallujah attacks could be part of the U.S. preparations for an all-out ground attack on the city closer to the date of elections.

Mr. Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for killing kidnapped Americans — Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley — this month after the U.S. forces and the Iraqi Government declined to release women prisoners. The group has also threatened to kill the British hostage Kenneth Bigley, who was also abducted along with the two Americans.

On Wednesday, Al Jazeera television showed new footage where a haggard and distressed Mr. Bigley was shown squatting in a cage, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, similar to the clothing worn by inmates of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hostage's charge

In a voice that was barely audible, Mr. Bigley said the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was not doing enough to free him: "(Mr.) Tony Blair is a liar. He does not care about me. I am just one person."

Seeking wider support for the elections, the interim Government is canvassing for support for a U.S.-backed international conference in November. The Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has said the three-day conference would be held in Cairo from November 22.

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