BAGHDAD, 25 November 2005 — A suicide car bomber attacked a hospital in central Iraq while US troops were handing out toys to children, killing 34 people yesterday. The dead included four policemen, three women and two children.
The US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division said four US soldiers were wounded in the blast. Dr. Dawoud Al-Taie, the director of the Mahmoudiya hospital, said 35 others were wounded.
Iraqi army Capt. Ibrahim Abdallah said the suicide bomber was targeting US military vehicles parked near the hospital in Mahmoudiya, about 30 km south of Baghdad.
“Task Force Baghdad civil affairs soldiers were at the hospital conducting an assessment for upgrades to the facility when the car bomb detonated,” the US statement said. “Task Force Baghdad officials said the target appears to have been the hospital, but the terrorist was unable to penetrate the security perimeter before detonating.”
The US soldiers were distributing toys to children in the hospital, said police Maj. Falah Al-Mohammedawi.
“It was an explosion at the gate of the hospital,” said one woman who had wounds on her face and legs. “My children are gone. My brother is gone.”
Mahmoudiya is a religiously mixed town in the so-called triangle of death, a region known for attacks on coalition forces and Shiites moving through the area to visit shrines south of the region.
In July 13 a suicide bomber killed 18 children and teenagers getting candy and toys from American soldiers. One of the soldiers was among the 27 people killed in that blast in an impoverished Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.
In the southern Dora neighborhood of Baghdad, gunmen ambushed a police patrol, killing four officers, police Capt. Qassim Hussein said.
In a separate attack, a bodyguard for the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party branch in Khalis, 80 km north of Baghdad, was wounded in a drive-by shooting in the morning. Hussein Abid Al-Zubeidi, who is also a member of the Diyala provincial council, said he escaped unharmed from the attack near Baquba, 60 km northeast of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, several insurgents groups have contacted President Jalal Talabani’s office in the past few days, with some saying they are ready to lay down their arms and join the political process, the presidential security adviser said. Lt. Gen. Wafiq Al-Samaraei told The Associated Press that “the calls we received were different. The calls were also from different groups.”
Al-Samaraei, a former military intelligence chief under Saddam Hussein, did not say whether the groups were extremists or belonged to Saddam’s Baath party.
But residents of Anbar province said four insurgent groups that are active in that area are conferring among themselves to chose a representative to meet government officials.
The Iraqi Islamic Army, the 1920 Revolution group, the Mujahedeen Army and Al-Jamea Brigades were asked by the president’s office to chose one person to come forward with their demands, according to the residents, who have contacts with the insurgents. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Talabani said last weekend in Egypt he was ready for talks with anti-government opposition figures as well as Baathists. He called the insurgents to lay down their weapons and join the political process.
“Many groups have called and some of them clearly expressed the readiness to join the political process,” Al-Samaraei said. This shows that “the initiative was welcomed by Iraqis.”
