Basra Blasts Kill at Least 68 People as Poland Considers Troops Withdrawal

Basra Blasts Kill at Least 68 People as Poland Considers Troops Withdrawal
At least 68 people were killed and over 200 others, including four British soldiers, were injured in attacks on three police stations in Basra and a police academy in nearby Zubair, local officials said. "There are 55 bodies in the morgue" of Sadr University Hospital in central Basra, an intern told AFP. Another hospital reported four dead and three women and two children among some 25 wounded. The dead include 10 children who were passing by in minibuses on their way to school. Another two people were killed and six others injured Wednesday in a blast at a police academy in Zubair, according Issam Hazem Ainajli, a member of Basra's gubernorate council. "There were two dead and six wounded in an explosion around 9:00 am at the Zubair police academy," said Issam Hazem Ainajli, a member of the Basra's gubernorate council. The ministry of defence in London said four British soldiers were injured, two seriously, in the explosion in Zubair. "We are now confirming four British injuries, two of whom are serious," a ministry spokesman said in London, adding that they were receiving medical treatment. Basra police chief General Mohammad Kadhem al-Ali said missiles fell on three police stations after a series of three successive explosions which rocked the city soon after 7:00 am (0300 GMT). Two police stations in the central Ashar district were hit by mortar bombs, police said minutes after the blasts. The third police station targeted was in the Old City of Basra. A British military spokesman however said the explosions were believed to have been caused by car bombs outside the police stations, with dead at all three locations. **Poland considers Iraq troop withdrawal*** Poland may be the next country after Spain, the Dominican Republic and Honduras to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Outgoing Prime Minister Leszek Miller on Wednesday said Poland was considering options for withdrawing its troops from Iraq, but added that any possible pullout would not be sudden and will be agreed with Washington. Miller said his likely successor as prime minister, Marek Belka, would map out a strategy for Polish troops in his first policy speech expected in early May. "We will not make any rash gestures. A final decision about the pullout date will be agreed and well thought over," he said on Wednesday. He told reporters that Poland would not follow Spain's example to pull its troop from Iraq quickly, because this could destablise the situation in the country. Poland's soldiers are responsible for a swathe of central and southern Iraq, leading a multinational force of which the Spanish contingent is currently part. Earlier, the Dominican Republic announced plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqi fireman rush to extinguish a burning minibus at the scene of one of three explosions which hit the city of Basra, southern Iraq, early Wednesday April 21, 2004. (AP)

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