Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004
Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004 |
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By Atul Aneja
MANAMA, DEC. 21. Twenty-two persons were killed and 50 wounded in an attack on an American military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. It coincided with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair's surprise visit to Iraq. CNN, quoting U.S. officials, said the dead included American military personnel, members of the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi civilians. At least three rockets reportedly landed inside the dining hall of a U.S. military base during lunchtime, when it was presumably crowded. Witnesses heard two or three explosions and saw smoke rising from Camp Merez, which is close to an airfield in the southwest part of the city. The U.S. military, in a statement earlier, said: "At 12 p.m. today an explosion occurred at a U.S. military installation in Mosul causing multiple casualties."
Al-Qaeda hand
The Al-Qaeda linked Army of Ansar al-Sunna group has claimed responsibility for the attack. "One of the mujahideen of the Army of Ansar al-Sunna carried out a martyrdom-seeking [suicide] operation in a restaurant of the infidel occupation forces at the Ghazlani camp in Mosul," said the statement. The message added that after the attack, "two helicopters were on the scene to airlift the killed and the wounded." The group said it had shot a video of the operation, indicating that the strike was well planned. Mosul has witnessed a spurt in violence in recent weeks, following the fullscale U.S. attack on the resistance stronghold of Fallujah on November 8. Analysts say that many top guerilla leaders may have left Fallujah in the wake of the U.S. attack and regrouped in and around Mosul.
A day of violence
In a day marked by violence, U.S. planes bombed the town of Hiyt, west of Baghdad, killing six Iraqi civilians and injuring nine. Al Jazeera television reported that the bombing, which continued till the early hours of today, destroyed houses, shops and civilian vehicles. On Tuesday, there was yet another explosion in Karbala, the city where 13 persons were killed on Sunday during a car bombing at its bus terminus. There has been no word on casualties so far. Karbala and its sister city of Najaf are well-known Shia pilgrimage centres.
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