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Iraqi officials say 18 boys killed by car bomb; U.S. reports 'controlled' blast
February 27, 2007 - 17:36

By: BRIAN MURPHY

BAGHDAD (AP) - State television reported that 18 boys were killed when a car bomb exploded in a park in Ramadi, and Iraqi and international officials were quick to deplore the slaughter. But questions about key details of the report emerged just as quickly.

Iraqi police and state TV said the attack occurred Tuesday. Later, police said it happened Monday.

The confusion grew deeper following an announcement by U.S. forces that 30 civilians and one Iraqi soldier were injured by flying debris Tuesday when troops intentionally detonated 15 bags of explosives found in Ramadi.

Some of the wounded were treated at a U.S. aid station, and others were flown to a military hospital for treatment, the statement said. None of the injuries were life threatening, it added.

The news first broke after nightfall when it is too dangerous for local journalists to independently check the reports in Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold 110 kilometres west of Baghdad. Western reporters normally tour the area only as part of military patrols.

Meanwhile, reports that the boys were killed touched off a flurry of condemnation.

UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, issued a statement saying "the loss of so many innocent children at play is unacceptable."

"Iraq's recreational areas, as well as its schools, must be respected and protected as safe havens where children can play and learn without fear," said Roger Wright, the UNICEF representative for Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office issued a statement denouncing the 18 deaths and calling on Iraqi security forces to "chase and punish the criminals."

Another statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office called the boys' deaths "a brutal act" that "reveals the ugly face" of terrorists. The prime minister's statement described the attack as coming Tuesday.

But an official in al-Maliki's office said they based the date on the Iraqi TV report. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public comments.

A prominent Sunni cleric called the attack evidence of terrorists' "deficit and weakness."

"They (terrorists) have neither religion nor dignity," Sheik Hameed al-Hayes told state television.

Also on Tuesday, U.S.-led strike forces seized suspected Shiite death squad bosses in sweeps through Baghdad's Sadr City slum. The raids were part of highly sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has ridiculed the two-week-old campaign for failing to halt bombings by suspected Sunni insurgents against Shiite civilians.

Al-Sadr withdrew his powerful Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the security push go forward. But the Iraqi government also worries that al-Sadr could pull his support if he feels his militiamen are being squeezed in Baghdad.

The pre-dawn raids appeared to highlight a strategy of pinpoint strikes in Sadr City rather than the flood of soldiers sent into some Sunni districts.

Bombings have not slackened off, with at least 10 people killed in blasts around Baghdad on Tuesday. However, an apparent success of the clampdown can be measured in the morgues: a sharp drop in the number of bullet-riddled bodies found in the streets of the capital, victims of sectarian death squads.

The number of bodies found this month in Baghdad - most shot and showing signs of torture - has dropped by nearly 50 per cent to 494 as of Monday, compared with 954 in January. The figure stood at 1,222 in December, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.

"We have seen a decrease in the past three weeks; a pretty radical decrease," said Lt.-Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq.

Many Sunnis have long alleged that most of killings were by Shiite militias, such as the Mahdi Army or rogue elements within the Shiite-led police.

The U.S. military said the raids targeted "the leadership of several rogue" Mahdi Army cells that "direct and perpetrate sectarian murder," an apparent reference to execution-style slayings and torture. At least 16 people were arrested.

"My sons and wife were very terrified," complained Muhannad Mihbas, 30, who said his brother and six cousins were taken in the sweeps. "Does the security plan mean arresting innocent people and scaring civilians at night?"

Odierno declined to comment on whether there were special tactics governing the Sadr City sweeps. "We will go after anyone who we feel is working against the government of Iraq," he said.

U.S. military spokesman Maj.-Gen. William Caldwell told Al-Arabiya television that forces "will increase our operations in the coming days," but noted that the security crackdown in the capital should continue until at least October.

Added Odierno: "We will keep at this until the people feel safe in their neighbourhoods."

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