IRAQ: ATTACKS ON FOREIGN SUV VEHICLES IN BAGHDAD AND BASRA CLAIM AT LEAST FOUR LIVES AND WOUND SIX OTHERS

Record ID: 355458

  • Title: IRAQ: ATTACKS ON FOREIGN SUV VEHICLES IN BAGHDAD AND BASRA CLAIM AT LEAST FOUR LIVES AND WOUND SIX OTHERS
  • Date: 21st September 2005
  • Summary: (BN07) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (SEPTEMBER 7, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV SMOKE RISING FROM CIVILIAN CARS IN STREET AND POLICE CARS ON SITE; SLV FIRE AND SMOKE BILLOWED INTO THE SKY FROM BURNING CIVILIAN MINIBUS; SLV CIVILIAN MINIBUS ON FIRE AND SMOKE RISING INTO THE SKY (VARIOUS) 0.31 2. SLV CHARRED CARS ON STREET; WIDE DAMAGED SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE IN STREET; SL
  • Embargoed: 6th October 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAGHDAD AND BASRA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVAAXR3RKHKH42GENL4DW76OZYWA
  • Story Text: Attacks on foreign SUV vehicles in Baghdad and Basra
    claim at least 4 lives and wound 6 others.




    Iraqi police said that a car bomb exploded in
    central Baghdad on Wednesday (September 7, 2005) as a foreign
    convoy drove past, wounding five Iraqis and one foreigner,
    believed to be a U.S. national.

    The sources said that a car, which was parked on the
    side of the road in Karrada neighbourhood exploded as a
    convoy of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV), believed to be
    American was driving, damaging one vehicle of the convoy.

    They said that an occupant of the damaged SUV was
    wounded in the attack. The U.S. military could not be
    immediately reached for comment.

    "We were standing outside the restaurant when the
    explosion happened. Two American vehicles were driving past
    when the explosion took place and people were hurt," said
    an eyewitness.

    Three civilian cars were ablaze and five civilians were
    wounded, police said.

    Black smoke billowed into the sky from burning civilian
    cars and police and fire-fighting engine converged on the
    scene, one of the capital's busiest thoroughfare.

    Foreign officials and security contractors move around
    Baghdad and Iraq in high-profile convoys of the
    four-wheel-drive SUV's accompanied by armed guards. They
    are a frequent target for insurgents, particularly on the
    dangerous airport road.

    Another roadside bomb went off near a convoy of SUV's
    often used by foreign security firms in the southern Iraqi
    city of Basra on Wednesday (September 7) with up to four
    dead and one wounded.

    There was no independent confirmation from the British
    troops in Basra or U.S. forces but witnesses said they
    believed there were four dead.

    "Four British vehicles came from over there and a
    roadside bomb blew up the last car and it flew over from
    this side to that side. (How many were killed?) Four people
    inside it were killed."
    Reuters television pictures showed members of foreign
    security forces evacuating the wounded with two apparently
    dead westerners pulled from the wreckage.

    The British military and the British consulate said no
    British military or diplomatic personnel were involved.

    A spokesman for the U.S. embassy could not confirm
    whether U.S. vehicles were involved but said they were
    seeking information on the incident.

    Basra, Iraq's second largest city, has been relatively
    calm over the past year and a half, although there are
    occasional outbreaks of violence. British forces are
    responsible for security in the city and other towns in
    southern Iraq.

    U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a Sunni Arab
    insurgency against the Shi'ite and Kurdish-led government
    in Baghdad.


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