BAGHDAD: A bomb killed 10 people including two US government employees and two US soldiers at a council meeting in the Baghdad stronghold of Moqtada Sadr yesterday, officials said.
Police said six Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded in the attack at a local council building in southern Sadr City.
The US military blamed renegade militias called “special groups” for the bombing. That is jargon for rogue elements of Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia that the military says are equipped, trained and funded by Iran. Tehran denies the charges.
US forces also blamed a special group cell for a truck bomb that killed 63 people in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad a week ago.
A US Embassy spokeswoman said one of the dead American civilians worked for the US State Department and the other for the Department of Defense.
One US soldier was also wounded, the military said.
The US military said a suspect who had tested positive for explosives residue had been caught trying to flee the scene. That suggests a bomb was planted in the council building.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the deaths were “a terrible reminder of the dangers” faced by Americans working in Iraq.
Lt. Col. Steven Stover, a US military spokesman, said the target of the attack was believed to be a high-ranking council member. It was unclear if that person survived. Stover said the rogue groups were unhappy the council member was working with US forces.
Mahmud Al-Zamili, a member of Sadr City’s council, said the blast occurred inside the office of the deputy head of the council. Police said the deputy was among the wounded.
Scores of Americans work closely with local authorities across Iraq in an effort to improve governance and restore essential services following five years of war. There has been little central government control over Sadr City for years. Some two million people live in the area.
