Roadside bomb hits US convoy

2008-04-14 13:54

Baghdad - An attack on a US convoy sparked a large fire in a marketplace in eastern Baghdad on Monday, as gunmen in Basra assassinated a police commander who was also a senior member of a leading Shi'ite political party.

Dozens of stalls were set ablaze when a bomb exploded next to a convoy of US military vehicles driving down a commercial street in the capital's eastern district.

A Humvee was damaged in the blast, said an Iraqi police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to release the information.

Residents said more than a dozen US and Iraqi fire-fighting vehicles rushed to the scene to put out the blaze which continued until morning. The US military did not respond to a request for comment.

The attack comes amid continuing clashes between US and Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militias in eastern Baghdad.

The government is demanding that radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr disband his Mahdi Army militia which has strongholds in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City neighbourhood, the port city of Basra and other locations in southern Iraq.

Crackdown on militiamen

On Sunday, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ratcheted up the pressure on al-Sadr by approving draft legislation barring political parties with militias from participating in upcoming provincial elections.

And in a further move to stem the flow of money to armed groups, the government ordered a crackdown on militiamen controlling state-run and private gas stations, refineries and oil distribution centres.

Clashes in Basra have abated since a failed government offensive last month to dislodge militia groups, but sporadic violence has been continuing in the country's oil capital.

Late on Sunday, unknown gunmen assassinated police Major Ali Haider, a commander in the department's serious crimes directorate. Police said Haider was a member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a Shi'ite political party that is part of al-Maliki's governing coalition.

The government has moved to restore discipline within the ranks of the security forces, sacking more than 17 300 soldiers and policemen who deserted during last month's offensive in Basra.

Mass grave

Elsewhere in Iraq, US soldiers discovered a mass grave near Muqdadiyah, about 90km north of Baghdad, the military said on Monday.

The grave site, which was unearthed on Sunday, contained 20-30 badly decomposed bodies that appeared to have been buried nearly eight months, according to the statement. It said the remains would be moved to a nearby cemetery.

It was the latest in a series of mass graves discovered as US and Iraqi troops clear former insurgent strongholds amid improved security, allowing stepped up patrols.

- AP