Sgt Sostand
09-24-03, 06:55 AM
Roadside attack was apparently intended for U.S. convoy
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 24 — A homemade bomb exploded Wednesday along a road in the Iraqi capital, missing a U.S. military patrol but killing at least one Iraqi and injuring 18 others as it destroyed two civilian buses, police and hospital officials said. Meanwhile, the health of Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on Iraq’s Governing Council, has taken a turn for the worse, four days after she was shot in a brazen daylight assassination attempt, a council spokesman said.
THE BOMBING took place in the Kazimiyah district, a commercial and residential neighborhood of north-central Baghdad. The American vehicles escaped damage but two buses were destroyed, according to Iraqi police Lt.
After the blast, one bus lay on the side of the road peppered with holes from shrapnel, two of its wheels blown off and blood staining the back of one of the seats. U.S. soldiers in armored vehicles guarded the scene. U.S. military officials told NBC News that the person killed was the bus driver.
Guerrillas opposed to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq often use roadside bombs to target military convoys. U.S. troops come under attack about a dozen times a day, commanders say.
“The bomb was on the dirt strip in the middle of the road. A U.S. patrol had passed by and missed it,” witness Sayyid Khamas said.
“We were sitting inside the store at about 9:30 a.m. when the explosion went off,” said shopkeeper Ala Saddam. “The glass shattered in my shop. We went out and saw the two small buses had been hit.”
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 24 — A homemade bomb exploded Wednesday along a road in the Iraqi capital, missing a U.S. military patrol but killing at least one Iraqi and injuring 18 others as it destroyed two civilian buses, police and hospital officials said. Meanwhile, the health of Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on Iraq’s Governing Council, has taken a turn for the worse, four days after she was shot in a brazen daylight assassination attempt, a council spokesman said.
THE BOMBING took place in the Kazimiyah district, a commercial and residential neighborhood of north-central Baghdad. The American vehicles escaped damage but two buses were destroyed, according to Iraqi police Lt.
After the blast, one bus lay on the side of the road peppered with holes from shrapnel, two of its wheels blown off and blood staining the back of one of the seats. U.S. soldiers in armored vehicles guarded the scene. U.S. military officials told NBC News that the person killed was the bus driver.
Guerrillas opposed to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq often use roadside bombs to target military convoys. U.S. troops come under attack about a dozen times a day, commanders say.
“The bomb was on the dirt strip in the middle of the road. A U.S. patrol had passed by and missed it,” witness Sayyid Khamas said.
“We were sitting inside the store at about 9:30 a.m. when the explosion went off,” said shopkeeper Ala Saddam. “The glass shattered in my shop. We went out and saw the two small buses had been hit.”