BAGHDAD, 31 January 2003 — Guerrillas set off a roadside bomb in a crowded Baghdad shopping district yesterday as US military vehicles drove past, killing one Iraqi civilian and wounding several others. The attack came as US-led forces launched raids across the country to mop up insurgents. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said more than 100 suspected guerrillas had been taken into custody since Monday.
The bombing in the bustling Karada district of central Baghdad, was the second attack on US troops in the area in three days. Two children and a US soldier were killed in a similar blast on Sunday. “The pavement just blew up everywhere,” said Abbas Aboud, a passing motorist who received minor wounds to his face.
The capital has been on tenterhooks because of fears of increased attacks around New Year. The US-led coalition has stepped up patrols and warned troops and staff to be vigilant. Yesterday’s blast occurred as hundreds of people were out on the streets in Karada — children going to school, workers going to the office and shopkeepers opening up for business.
Witnesses said the bomb, most likely placed on the concrete divider of a main street, was apparently aimed at two US military vehicles passing by. Neither vehicle suffered much damage. One Iraqi was killed on the spot.
In the restive town of Baquba, 65 km north of Baghdad, US troops used explosives to blast open the gate to a cluster of houses where suspected guerrillas were living. An intelligence officer in Saddam Hussein’s former regime and eight suspected Fedayeen guerrillas were arrested in the early morning raid, said Lt. Col. William Adamson, task force commander for the town. Kimmitt said 49 raids were conducted across the country, resulting in 101 arrests.
In a search near the town of Samarra in the volatile “Sunni triangle” north of Baghdad, soldiers found a cache of weapons along with “Al-Qaeda literature and an Al-Qaeda video”, Maj. Josslyn Aberle of the 4th Infantry Division told reporters. The weapons haul included bomb-making equipment, one bomb that had already been assembled, 43 grenade launchers and 25 AK-47 assault rifles, she said.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that a Syrian firm, headed by a cousin of that country’s leader, Bashar Al-Assad, signed contracts to supply millions of dollars in arms and equipment to Iraq before the United States invaded in March.
It said SES International Corp. had supplied 1,000 heavy machine-guns and up to 20 million bullets for assault rifles. SES sent the newspaper an e-mail saying it was not involved in illicit trade but refusing to address specific cases.
