Saturday, March 17, 2007
Chlorine bombs in Falluja while police targeted in Mosul, Hilla
Security
(Reuters) - Two suicide truck bombers driving tanks filled with chlorine killed at least eight people and 85 were made ill on Friday in the western Iraqi town of Falluja, hospital sources said on Saturday. The first attack was at the entrance of Amiriyat Falluja, a large housing complex south of Falluja, that killed six people including policemen and making 79 ill, including 27 children.
The second bomber targeted a tribal leader opposed to al Qaeda nearby when he blew up his tanker outside the man's home, killing two people and making six ill because of exposure to the chemical. Militants have used chlorine as a weapon in the past. At least two bombings involving chlorine killed eight people in February.
The U.S. military said they discovered an al Qaeda car bomb factory last month near Falluja that was constructing bombs with chlorine. The gas causes severe burns when breathed in and can even cause death.
The second bomber targeted a tribal leader opposed to al Qaeda nearby when he blew up his tanker outside the man's home, killing two people and making six ill because of exposure to the chemical. Militants have used chlorine as a weapon in the past. At least two bombings involving chlorine killed eight people in February.
The U.S. military said they discovered an al Qaeda car bomb factory last month near Falluja that was constructing bombs with chlorine. The gas causes severe burns when breathed in and can even cause death.
Two separate bomb blasts killed two policemen and wounded four others in Iraq on Saturday, as the United Nations urged the world to help rebuild the country's war-shattered economy. A policeman from a special task force was killed and four wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the mainly Shiite provincial capital of Hilla, south of Baghdad, police Lieutenant Kadhim al-Aaraji said. A civilian was also wounded.
Aaraji said the bombers targeted Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, commander of the task force, as his convoy was passing in Hilla's southern district of Ndir. The brigadier escaped the attack. A similar blast targeting another police patrol in the main northern city of Mosul killed one policeman and wounded another, said police chief Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf al-Juburi.
Aaraji said the bombers targeted Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, commander of the task force, as his convoy was passing in Hilla's southern district of Ndir. The brigadier escaped the attack. A similar blast targeting another police patrol in the main northern city of Mosul killed one policeman and wounded another, said police chief Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf al-Juburi.
Labels: Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, chlorine bombs, Fallujah, Hilla, Mosul
