- Title: IRAQ: FOUR BULGARIAN SOLDIERS KILLED IN ATTACK IN HOLY TOWN OF KERBALA
- Date: 27th December 2003
- Summary: (U2) KERBALA, IRAQ (DECEMBER 27, 2003) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 1. CLOSE OF WRECKAGE. DEBRIS FROM EXPLOSION 0.04 2. PULLOUT OF WIDE OF U.S. SOLDIERS BEHIND BARBED WIRE AT KERBALA GOVERNING HEADQUARTERS 0.14 3. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED VEHICLES NEAR KERBALA GOVERNING HEADQUARTERS 0.24 4. VARIOUS OF U.S. FORCES NEAR THE EXPLOSION SITE/PICTURE T
- Embargoed: 11th January 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KERBALA,IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA92Z8CHXTXXPTQY3I512X4FWK9
- Story Text: Four Bulgarian soldiers were killed and many wounded
in a series of blasts south of Baghdad.
Guerrillas killed six coalition soldiers and at
least seven Iraqis in southern Iraq on Saturday (December
27), lashing out at nations that answered U.S. calls for
troops to stabilise the country it invaded.
The attacks in Kerbala, a town holy to Shi'ite Muslims,
also wounded 37 soldiers including five Americans, and at
least 80 Iraqis, U.S. military officials and local
hospitals said.
The head of the multi-national force in the region,
General Andrzej Tyszkiewicz, said attackers used four
suicide car bombs, mortars and machine-guns against two
foreign military bases and a town council building housing
local police.
"This was a planned, coordinated and massed attack,"
the Polish PAP news agency quoted Tyszkiewicz as saying.
"In all cases, the suicide drivers were shot dead before
they could strike their targets."
Major Ralph Manos, an officer with the Polish-led
multinational division based in the city, told Reuters six
coalition soldiers were killed. A Polish Defence Ministry
official said five Iraqi policemen also died and two Polish
civilians were injured.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry said two of the dead
soldiers were Thais posted to Kerbala. Bulgaria's Defence
Ministry said four of its troops had been killed by one of
the car bombs.
The attacks, part of a wave of guerrilla raids in
Baghdad and deadly bombings to the north, dealt yet another
blow to hopes the December 13 capture of former president
Saddam Hussein would soon rein in violence in Iraq that
Washington blames on Saddam loyalists and Muslim militants.
Iraqis said a fuel truck tried to smash into one of the
bases before bursting into flames, killing several Iraqis.
The spokesman for the Polish-led force said 25 troops
were wounded, five seriously, in the strike on the bases,
around 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Baghdad. U.S.
military spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt put the
number of wounded troops at 37.
People in the city blamed followers of the captured
Iraqi leader, who U.S. military officials believe have
played a main role in attacks on occupying troops, Iraqis
working with them and international agencies.
"Those who carried out this operation are followers of
Saddam...We are 100 percent sure," said 35-year-old Sattar
Abdel Ghali in downtown Kerbala.
The Kerbala area, home to several shrines holy to
Shi'ite Muslims, is controlled by a multi-national force
including Bulgarians under Polish command. Washington is
urging allied countries to contribute forces to help
counter insurgency ahead of a planned handover of
sovereignty to Iraqis in the summer.
About 15 Japanese military officials arrived in Kuwait
on Saturday to lay the groundwork for Japan sending troops
to Iraq. They are due to hold talks with members of the
U.S.-led coalition to prepare for the arrival of more than
150 personnel and transport planes in January.
Italian troops in the southern city of Nassiriya last
month were hit by a car bombing that killed 19 soldiers,
the deadliest attack to date on countries have provided
troops to help Washington stabilise and rebuild Iraq.
The Kerbala attacks came as U.S. troops clashed with
suspected guerrillas in the increasingly volatile north.
U.S. soldiers said they killed four Iraqis in Mosul after
coming under rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire.
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