Death toll climbs as Falluja siege continues
The death toll from suicide car bombings in Iraq continued to rise yesterday with at least 13 people killed in Baghdad and Mosul in the last two days, as the US and Iraqi army siege of Falluja continued unabated. A car bomb detonated on a bridge in the northern city of Mosul on Sunday morning, killing five Iraqis and wounding 15 others, the US military said. Reports said the suicide car bomber collided with another car setting off a giant blaze that damaged several other vehicles. Another car bomber hit a civilian convoy in the same city yesterday, killing one and wounding four others. In Baghdad, seven people are now known to have died and more than 20 injured when a car bomb exploded outside a cafe popular with Iraqi police near the Australian embassy. Witnesses said the policemen were eating a meal to mark the end of the daily fast during Ramadan when the blast happened, scattering metal, glass and body parts over a large area. Outside Falluja, American marines maintained their siege of the city, continuing a military push that began on Friday and appeared to be laying the groundwork for an attempt to retake the city from insurgents. [more ]
- Pictured above:
A wounded U.S. Marine suffering from a gunshot wound in carried by
fellow Marines for a helicopter evacuation from his base at Camp Kalzoo
near Iskandariyah south of Baghdad, Iraq Monday, Oct. 18, 2004. [more ]
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