Free Republic

MUSAYYIB, Iraq (Reuters) - Stricken townspeople swept away the wreckage of a fuel truck bomb that killed 98 people south of Baghdad as three more suicide car bombers struck the Iraqi capital on Sunday in a relentless new campaign. The overnight attack which devastated the highway town of Musayyib was the deadliest since the new Iraqi government took power in April and the highest death toll from a single car bomb since 125 people were killed in February in Hilla, also south of Baghdad. Saturday's bombing prompted denunciations of the authorities in parliament and calls for local militia to take...

ARIS, May 29 — Italian and German investigators have disclosed fresh information suggesting that hints of an attack involving aircraft and the United States were more widespread among European law enforcement agencies before Sept. 11 than previously suspected.The disclosures come after weeks in which the Bush administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which announced a shake-up today, have come under sharp criticism that they did not pay sufficient heed to signs of Al Qaeda plots in the United States that may have alerted them to the Sept. 11 attacks.A Central Intelligence Agency spokesman said today that before Sept....

Five seconds is all it would take. It would start with a five-tonne bomb exploding in the centre of an Australian city. Shrapnel, glass and debris would be hurled up to 250 metres. The truck carrying the bomb would break into 10,000 one-kilogram pieces. Two buildings would collapse. The human toll: 900 dead, 9500 injured. These are the frightening results of a computer simulation of a large bomb attack in a generic Australian city, described to participants at the two-day Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers conference held in Melbourne this week. The simulation, using "conservative" population figures, modelled the...

This is a joint FBI and DHS Information Bulletin. FBI and DHS intend to update this Information Bulletin should they receive additional relevant information, including information provided to them by the user community. Based on this notification, no change to the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) level is anticipated; the current HSAS national threat level is YELLOW-ELEVATED. The current threat level for the financial services sectors in New York City, Northern New Jersey and Washington, DC is ORANGE-HIGH. FBI and DHS encourage recipients of this Information Bulletin to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local FBI Joint...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber in a fuel truck blew it up early Monday at a police station in southwest Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding about 60 as the inferno engulfed civilians and officers waiting for their daily assignments, officials and witnesses said. Later, the Defense Ministry said militants killed Essam al-Dijaili, the head of the military's supply department, in a drive-by shooting as he walked into his house in Baghdad. The morning blast outside the police station in the Seidiyeh neighborhood, the latest in a string of deadly attacks on police, came as officers gathered to receive...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq  — At least 11 Iraqi civilians were killed Wednesday morning when a pair of homicide bombers  tried to attack a coalition base where international troops are based, a coalition spokeswoman said.</p> <p>The attack outside Camp Charlie in Hillah  also wounded 44 other Iraqis and 58 coalition troops, including Hungarians, Poles and an American. Polish Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek called it a "well coordinated terrorist attack."</p>

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two suicide bombers tried to drive explosives-laden trucks into a Polish-run base south of Baghdad, but coalition forces opened fire, triggering blasts that killed at least 11 Iraqi civilians and wounded dozens, including more than 30 coalition soldiers, officials said. More than 64 people were injured in the blasts, including at least 31 Iraqis, 12 Filipinos, 10 Poles, 10 Hungarians and an American, officials said. Polish Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek, commander of the 9,500-strong Polish military contingent, called it a "well coordinated terrorist attack."

Today's bombing outside coalition headquarters in Baghdad will not deter U.S. and coalition forces from their mission in Iraq, a military spokesman said in a briefing from the Iraqi capital. An explosives-laden truck exploded shortly after 8 a.m. during Sunday's morning rush hour near the entrance to the headquarters. At least 20 people were killed, and at least 60 more were injured. Officials believe most of the dead were Iraqi citizens, but Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for Combined Joint Task Force 7, said two Americans may have been killed by the blast. "We have indications...

An al-Qa'eda terrorist has confessed that he planned to drive a giant explosive device into a United States air force bunker in Belgium believed to contain nuclear warheads. News of the plot came as America gave warning that a broadcast thought to contain the words of Osama bin Laden foreshadowed a likely attack. The FBI said national landmarks, the aviation, oil and nuclear industries were possible targets. In an interview with a Belgian radio station, Nizar Trabelsi, 31, a Tunisian former professional footballer, said he had hoped to attack the Kleine Brogel base in eastern Belgium with a bomb similar...

<p>NASIRIYAH, Iraq — A suicide bomber blew up a truck packed with explosives at an Italian paramilitary base here yesterday, killing at least 26 persons. The United States struck at the Iraqi insurgency hours later, destroying a warehouse in Baghdad and chasing attackers who were seen firing mortars.</p>

'There were dead bodies everywhere, it seemed like the end of the world' (Filed: 13/11/2003) Guards opened fire but they could not stop the speeding tanker packed with explosives. Jack Fairweather reports from Nasiriyah The Italian military compound was the softest of targets. Unlike the fortresses of coalition units in Baghdad, sheltering behind concrete crash barriers, the Italian police station in Nasiriyah had only a few rolls of barbed wire and sandbags to protect it. Although the scene of some of the heaviest fighting during the war, Nasiriyah has since welcomed foreigners and the Italians were tragically ill-prepared for what...

<p>Italian officials said Wednesday an attack on Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriya that killed at least 18 Italians and eight Iraqis earlier in the day would not deter their country's commitment to helping form a new Iraqi government.</p> <p>Officials said 12 of the dead were Italian Carabinieri, or military police, four were other soldiers and two were Italian civilians filming a documentary on the Italian military in Iraq.</p>

ROME, Nov 12 (AFP) - The killing of at least 18 Italians in the worst attack against the Italian military since World War II on Wednesday provoked a furious reaction from opposition parties, who demanded that Italian troops be brought home even as the government insisted they would stay on. The Italians -- 12 paramilitary police, four soldiers and two civilians -- died in the most serious incident involving non-US forces in the country since the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. They were Italy's first casualties since Rome deployed its forces alongside the US-led coalition in June. A massive two-vehicle...

By Charles Clover in Baghdad, James Harding and Guy Dinmore in Washington and Roula Khalaf in London Published: November 12 2003 19:47 | Last Updated: November 12 2003 19:47 US President George W. Bush on Wednesday held urgent talks with his national security team about a fundamental shift in Iraq strategy to accelerate the return of self-government, as the coalition forces were struck by a bomb attack that killed at least 25 people. The truck bomb in the southern city of Nasiriya killed eight Iraqis and at least 17 Italian service personnel, marking Italy's highest military death toll since the...

US allies Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland vowed to keep their 6,000 troops in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition despite the deaths of 23 people in a deadly attack on Italian forces. "Our determination is the same as those Italians in uniform who are honouring the coalition engaged in supporting Iraq on its road to democracy," Italian Prime Minister Silvio said. "No intimidation will change our desire to help this country to rebuild and form a government, in security and freedom." Condolences poured in for the Italian people, with the White House thanking Rome for its help in...

A truck bomber attacked the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in this southern city on Wednesday, killing 23 people, including 15 Italians, and possibly trapping others in the debris. It was the deadliest toll suffered by non-American coalition forces since the occupation began in April, and the first such attack in Nasiriyah, a relatively quiet Shiite Muslim city. The bombing appeared aimed at sending a message that international organizations are not safe anywhere in Iraq. In Rome, Defense Minister Antonio Martino confirmed 15 Italians were killed: 11 Carabinieri paramilitary police, three Army soldiers and an Italian civilian working at the...

ROME (AP) - Italy mourned its single worst military loss since World War II on Wednesday after a truck bomb in Iraq killed at least 18 Italians - a catastrophic loss for a country whose government supported the war, but whose people largely opposed it. The nation was shaken: Italians left flowers for the fallen troops outside the headquarters of the Carabinieri paramilitary police, while at Rome's tomb of the unknown soldier, Italy's green-white-and-red flag rippled at half staff. In parliament, lawmakers held a minute of silence. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi pledged that Italy would not be discouraged from its...

ROME -- The Italian government vowed Wednesday to remain engaged in Iraq, despite opposition calls to withdraw troops after a truck bomb killed at least 17 Italians -- the country's first casualties in the conflict and its single worst military loss since World War II. The Italians -- 11 Carabinieri paramilitary police, four Army soldiers, a civilian worker and a documentary filmmaker -- and eight Iraqis were killed when the explosives-laden truck approached the Italian compound in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah at about 10:40 a.m. The vehicle rammed the gate of the compound and exploded in front of...

At least 12 Italian police and soldiers were reported killed in a truck bomb attack against their base in southern Iraq, the first Italian casualties since they joined the US-led coalition in June. The massive blast gutted the building housing the paramilitary Carabinieri force in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, trapping several men under rubble. The Ansa news agency said nine of the dead belonged to the paramilitary Carabinieri force and three were members of an army contingent in Iraq, where Italy has deployed a total force of 3,000. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Pier Ferdinando Casini, calling for...

Nov. 12 — A truck bomb rocked the headquarters of the Italian Carabinieri police in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday, killing at least 14 Italians and possibly trapping others under the debris, Carabinieri officials said in Rome. The Arabic language television station Al-Jazeera said eight Iraqis were also killed. IT WAS THE first such attack in this relatively quiet Shiite Muslim city since the beginning of the U.S.-led occupation and appeared aimed at sending a message to international organizations that they are not safe anywhere in Iraq. Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called the bombing a “terrorist...