Many Killed in Central Baghdad Bombing

17/06/2004| IslamWeb

At least 35 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in a massive car bombing of the Civil Defence Corp recruitment centre in Baghdad, the Iraqi health ministry has said. Bodies, bloody and battered, lay tangled in the street outside the centre on Thursday, as ambulances on the scene struggled to deal with the chaos. A policeman told Aljazeera he thought the blast was caused by a car bomb. "The explosion took place near al-Muthana airport at the entrance to a US military base. Members of the former Iraqi army were gathering to receive their salaries". The casualty toll at three local hospitals kept rising as ambulances and police trucks brought in the casualties, many of them badly mutilated by the force of the blast. Abdul Moneim Hussein, chief of the emergency department at Karama hospital, said that the death toll there had risen to nine from eight previously, while the wounded count had risen to 127, including a woman. The combined toll with two other hospitals, Kharkh and Armuk, came to 35 dead and 1119 injured. **Crowded district*** The toll is expected to rise as the Alawi al-Hilla neighbourhood was crowded at the time of the explosion. Numerous bus and taxi stations are based there. The huge explosion echoed over central Baghdad and a plume of smoke rose near the sprawling compound housing the US-led administration's headquarters. The military had no immediate information on the blast, but a spokesman said they were checking. **Other attacks*** Just an hour earlier, a US soldier died of wounds sustained during a rocket attack on an occupation force base in Iraq as Baghdad comes under intense attack. Three soldiers have now died as a result of the Wednesday attack north of Baghdad. One died immediately at the scene of the attack, the other two in a field hospital. The attack targeted the Anaconda base near Balad and wounded 23 others - including at least 12 soldiers. Numerous bomb attacks have continued to be launched in the Iraqi capital. **Dawn attack*** Shortly after midnight, exploding mortars were lobbed at the US headquarters in the capital. The explosions set off sirens at Saddam Hussein's former main palace in the heavily fortified US-led occupation headquarters. However, a military statement said there were "no injuries to personnel or damage to equipment" caused by the midnight attack in central Baghdad. Locals say the attack took place at around 00:45 am on Thursday. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqis remove the dead from the scene of an explosion in central Baghdad, Iraq Thursday June 17, 2004. (AP)