BAGHDAD, 13 November 2003 — In what appeared to be a fresh suicide attack, a car bomb ripped through an Italian military police base in the Iraqi town of Nassiriyah yesterday, killing at least 18 Italians and eight Iraqis.
The attack came as President George W. Bush and Iraq’s US governor Paul Bremer discussed ways to speed the handover of power to the Iraqis in a second day of talks in Washington.
The blast tore off the front of the concrete building used by the Carabinieri on the Euphrates riverfront, set cars on fire and sent a plume of black smoke into the air.
“A truck crashed into the entrance of the military police unit, closely followed by a car which detonated,” a spokeswoman for the British-led multinational force in southern Iraq said. There were reportedly two suicide bombers in the truck.
Officials in Rome said the Italian deaths were believed to be 12 military police, four army soldiers and two Italian civilians. Khudair Al-Hazbar, director of Nassiriyah General Hospital, said at least eight Iraqis were killed and more than 80 wounded.
One of the wounded was a one-year-old child who had lost his eyes and nose. “He will die for sure,” Hazbar said.
Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino said fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein were behind the attack.
“Evidence on the ground and intelligence reports lead us to believe that today’s attack was planned and carried out by remnants loyal to Saddam...united with Arab extremists,” Martino said. Ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene with sirens wailing. The explosion shattered windows hundreds of meters away, and houses near the base were badly damaged.
“The front of my house is destroyed,” Jamal Kadhim Shwail, a doctor who lives near the base, said. “I have just come back from the hospital where I operated on my own two daughters. It was a huge explosion. We are all in shock.”
Bremer rushed back from Baghdad to Washington on Tuesday for talks with top Bush aides on Iraq’s future, amid signs of a shift in strategy to accelerate the pace of political change.
He disputed suggestions Iraq’s Governing Council was failing and said Washington would continue to work with the group.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say the IGC (Iraqi Governing council) is failing,” Bremer told reporters after two days of meetings with Bush and other top administration officials.
Jalal Talabani, who holds the rotating presidency of the Governing Council, said the best way forward was to install a provisional government without delay.
“I think it is very reasonable and necessary to have a provisional government before having a constitution,” Talabani said.
Yesterday’s bombing, described by Pope John Paul as a “vile attack” against a mission of peace, was the bloodiest single attack in Iraq since August when at least 80 Iraqis were killed by a car bomb outside a mosque in Najaf. The Italian deaths were the first among non-British members of the southern multinational force in hostile fire.
Around 2,300 Italian troops are in southern Iraq, many based in Nassiriyah which had been relatively calm since the war. Italian and Romanian forces in the city, part of the British-led force, have been generally well received by locals.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Italian troops would stay.
President Bush paid tribute to the Italians killed yesterday. “Italy lost some proud sons in the service of freedom and peace. The United States sends our deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers and policemen who died. We appreciate their sacrifices,” said Bush.
“I appreciate the steadfast leadership of Prime Minister (Silvio) Berlusconi, who refuses to yield in the face of terror,” Bush said. The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper said yesterday a new CIA report on Iraq warned of growing popular support for the resistance and warned that efforts to rebuild the country could collapse without immediate corrective action.
Attacks in Iraq have killed at least 155 US soldiers since major combat was declared over on May 1. Two US soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks on Tuesday.
In the volatile town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, US soldiers opened fire on a truck at a checkpoint, killing five Iraqis, relatives and hospital officials said.
The US military said a succession of about a dozen blasts heard in Baghdad last night were part of an operation against guerrillas responsible for attacks on US forces.
A US military spokesman said the operation was against a known facility used as a meeting, planning and rendezvous point for guerrillas. Two suspects were killed, three others injured and five were detained.
— Additional input from agencies
