Deadly Day in Baghdad
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| Thu, 09-30-2004 - 1:55pm |
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Baghdad bomb attacks leave 35 children dead
7 adults also killed during ceremony for new sewage treatment plant; U.S. soldier, 2 others die in suicide blast; 10 new hostages seized
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A series of bombs killed 35 children and seven adults today as U.S. troops handed out candy at a government ceremony to inaugurate a new sewage treatment plant. Hours earlier, a suicide blast killed a U.S. soldier and two Iraqis on the capital's outskirts.
The bombs in Baghdad's al-Amel neighborhood caused the largest death toll of children in any insurgent attack since the conflict in Iraq began 17 months ago.
"The Americans called us, they told us, 'Come here, come here,' asking us if we wanted sweets. We went beside them, then a car exploded," said 12-year-old Abdel Rahman Dawoud, lying naked in a hospital bed with shrapnel embedded all over his body.
Two bombs went off in quick succession at the ceremony about 1 p.m., then were followed by a third explosion a short distance away, said Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman. He said there were two suicide car bombs and one roadside bomb; the Americans said all three were car bombs.
The explosions killed 42 people and wounded 141, including 10 U.S. soldiers. The wounded included 72 children under the age of 14, said Dr. Mohammed Salaheddin.
The day of violence across Iraq, including insurgent attacks and U.S. airstrikes in Fallujah, left a total of 46 people dead and 208 wounded.
In the northern city of Tal Afar, a car bomb targeting the police chief killed at least four people and wounded 16, Iraqi and U.S. officials said. The chief, whose name was only given as Col. Ismail, escaped the assassination attempt, police said.
Also today, the Arab news network Al-Jazeera showed video of 10 new hostages seized in Iraq by militants. Al-Jazeera said the 10 -- six Iraqis, two Lebanese and two Indonesian women -- were taken by The Islamic Army in Iraq, a group that has claimed responsibility for seizing two French journalists.
A Lebanese official later said kidnappers had released one Lebanese captive, although it was not clear if he was among the 10.
In the al-Amel bombings, grief-stricken parents wailed over the bodies of their children at the Yarmouk Hospital morgue. One woman tore at her hair before pulling back the sheet covering her dead brother and kissing him.
One man carried his younger brother -- both legs bandaged -- to the hospital, where some children were put two to a bed because of the many wounded. Outside, women sat on the ground and wept as they awaited news about their children.
The hospital received 42 bodies -- including those of 35 children -- and 131 wounded, said Iyhsan Nasser, head of the facility's statistics department.
At the site of the blasts, body parts were strewn in the streets amid pools of blood. A U.S. helicopter evacuated some of the wounded while other aircraft circled overhead and soldiers sealed off the area.
Lt. Col. Jim Hutton, spokesman for the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, said 10 American soldiers were among the wounded.
American troops were taking part in the ceremony to inaugurate the sewage plant, said Maj. Phil Smith, another division spokesman, calling the attacks "despicable." Officials earlier had said a U.S. convoy was passing through the area.
Smith said the first two explosions targeted the ceremony, while the third was aimed at a nearby Iraqi National Guard checkpoint.
The children were at the ceremony because the school year in Iraq has not yet begun.
"This attack was carried out by evil people who do not want the Iraqis to celebrate and don't want (reconstruction) projects in Iraq," said Iraqi National Guard Lt. Ahmad Saad.
Hours earlier, a suicide car bomber struck in the Abu Ghraib area outside of Baghdad, killing the American soldier and at least two Iraqis, and wounding 60, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.
That bomb targeted a compound housing the mayor's office, a police station and other buildings, police 1st Lt. Ahmed Jawad said. A U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle parked in front of the compound was hit, Hutton said.
Elsewhere, insurgents fired a rocket Thursday at a logistical support area for coalition forces on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding seven, the military said. No further details was disclosed -- including whether or not it was a U.S. soldier.
Meanwhile, the United States targeted a suspected terrorist safehouse in Fallujah. The military said intelligence reports indicated the house was being used by followers of Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to plan attacks against U.S.-led forces and Iraqi citizens.
At least four Iraqis were killed -- including two women and one child -- and eight were wounded, said Dr. Ahmed Khalil of the Fallujah General Hospital. Witnesses said two houses were flattened and four others damaged in the strike.
"Significant secondary explosions were observed during the impact, indicating a large cache of illegal ordinance was stored in the safehouse," the military statement said. Explosions continued for hours.
American jets, tanks and artillery units repeatedly have targeted al-Zarqawi's network in Fallujah recently as U.S.-led forces seek to assert control over insurgent enclaves ahead of elections slated for January. The military says the attacks have inflicted significant damage on the network, which has claimed responsibility for bombings, kidnappings and other attacks.
Doctors say scores of civilians have been killed and wounded in the strikes.
Al-Zarqawi's group, Tawhid and Jihad, has claimed responsibility for several beheadings and kidnappings.
Al-Jazeera's video of the latest hostages showed three captives, who were not identified, and two masked men pointing weapons at them. There was no mention of demands by the militants or when or where they were captured. The network said the 10 were employees of the Jib electricity company.
Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, Iraq's deputy interior minister in charge of intelligence, later confirmed that two Lebanese had been kidnapped along with a group of others that included women.
More than 140 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq and at least 26 have been killed.

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I have a few numbers for YOU.
Today, 4.2 people in the U.S. will die falling asleep while driving their cars. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
Today, 116.8 people in the U.S. will die in traffic accidents (MADD)
Today, 3,700 babies in the U.S. will die at the request of their mothers (by way of abortion) Worldwide today...126,000 babies dead. (97% of these for social reasons, not medical)
Just a thought. Pick your war. There are lots of em'.
You are a true believer in "If you can't refute 'em, smear 'em"
You and janeigh could be the exact same person.
Are you?
Hmm. Your "news" sounded just like the Tokyo Rose broadcasts. She deliberately tried to demoralize Americans during wartime. Looks like you're doing the same thing. I avoided using the words "Cowardly" and "pathetic" in response to your post in favor of the more subtle comparison between your "news" and that of Tokyo Rose. An apt one.
Your hysteria is best directed at them.
Incidently, why are you not posting under your former name, janeigh?
Edited 9/30/2004 3:16 pm ET ET by blueishxx
Your hysteria is best directed at them. >>
Let me get this straight. If an ivillager poster posts some inflammatory anti-American propaganda that s/he picks up somewhere, I (just I, or everyone?) am supposed to not rebut the poster, but seek out the source of the propaganda that the poster read and take it up with them?!
That way you, as the poster of inflammatory propaganda intended to demoralize Americans into kicking out the troops' Commander-in-Chief, are held blameless for posting anti-American propaganda -- because you didn't write it, you just posted it?!
How, pray tell, is that not like what Tokyo Rose did?
How is that supporting our troops?
By what means do you envision can anything you post be rebutted?
Janeigh, this is exactly the kind of empty and furius rhetoric I've come to expect from you.
If you don't like the way things are unfolding in Iraq, blame President Bush.
Edited 9/30/2004 3:17 pm ET ET by blueishxx
What kind of circular reasoning idiocy is this? You posted the doom and gloom horror "news" from Iraq. You're the one who ostensibly doesn't like the way things are unfolding in Iraq. You're the one bashing Bush.
Where did I say I didn't "like the way things are unfolding in Iraq"? I'm not blaming Bush. I support Bush and his command.
I do hold you accountable for trying to demoralize Americans during time of war, hence the appropriate reference to Tokyo Rose.
Do you support our troops or are you trying to provide moral support to our enemies? It's very hard to tell.
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