Posted on 09/24/2003 5:33:10 AM PDT by Brian S
Wed September 24, 2003 07:11 AM ET By Suleiman al-Khalidi and Ian Simpson
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb apparently aimed at U.S. troops tore through two commuter buses in Baghdad Wednesday, killing one Iraqi and wounding around 20, police and witnesses said.
A U.S. military convoy had been on the road when the bomb went off but most of the vehicles had passed by the bomb and a bus bore the brunt of the explosion, a U.S. Army spokesman said. He said there were no U.S. casualties.
The blast, at around 9:30 a.m. in the Adhamiya district of northern Baghdad, also damaged another bus and a car. A bomb and gunfire attack in the area the previous evening wounded three police officers and a U.S. soldier.
After Wednesday's 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.
"We have one dead, 22 injured, all Iraqis. It was a bomb planted on a roadway," Iraqi police Lt. Aws Abduladhim told Reuters. Other police officers and witnesses put the number of injured slightly lower.
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 told Reuters.
"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."
A doctor at a local hospital said he had treated 12 wounded. "Their condition is fair. Three have come out of surgery. There was one fatality," Dr. Majeed Kazem Thamer told Reuters.
Also recovering in the hospital were three police officers wounded close to midnight in Adhamiya, where ousted dictator Saddam Hussein was last seen in public at the end of the Iraq war. Hostility toward Americans there is stronger than in other parts of the city.
Police said men had approached a base for Iraqi police and U.S. troops claiming to be concerned about a suspicious package nearby. After leading police and soldiers to the scene, the men disappeared. The package exploded and gunmen opened fire.
"They were firing from a building at the police patrol and the Americans returned fire and stopped them," said Riyad Jasim, a policeman whose face was scarred with shrapnel wounds. They said a female U.S. soldier was also wounded.
Elsewhere in Baghdad Wednesday, U.S. soldiers sealed off a road tunnel to deal with explosives found planted there.
Our casualty rate is already going way down, and stories of the terrorist killing Iraqis (destroying their potential support) is growing more frequent. In a sick way, this story is evidence of good news.
"Bahgdad Bob kills one Iraqi, Wounds About Twenty"
I was looking forward to a most interesting article.
However tragic, this is news. But I do notice Brian tends to focus (not always, but mostly) on the more negative news items. Whether that's his fault or the media's...
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