Iraq suicide bombing kills 23
2005-01-03 09:16
Baghdad - Insurgents exposed the vulnerability of Iraq's security forces again, killing at least 22 national guardsmen and their driver in a suicide bombing and 10 other people in separate attacks with elections just weeks away.
Prominent Shiite leaders called for unity with Sunni Arabs wanting to delay the vote but, insisted it be held despite the violence.
Also, the US military sent new forces to counter the threat in Mosul, centre of a worrying rise in car bombings and raids in recent weeks.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell later repeated past warnings of more violence ahead of the January 30 elections for a national assembly, and the guerrillas have made good on those fears with tragic ease.
Iraq's poorly equipped security forces usually have far less training than American troops, and attacks on them usually result in more casualties.
Iraq's progress to democracy
The worst attack on Sunday occurred in Balad, 80km north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle next to a bus carrying Iraqi guard troops.
Police Lieutenant Haidar Karar said 18 guardsmen and the driver were killed in the initial blast and four more guardsmen later died of their wounds.
US officials said they were still trying to determine if there were one or two attackers inside the car that detonated next to the bus.
It was the deadliest assault on Iraqi security forces since October, when insurgents gunned down about 50 new national guardsmen at a fake checkpoint.
Officials said another national guardsman was killed separately, south of Kirkuk.
US military's Major Neal E O'Brien said the car bomb detonated as the bus passed a US base in Balad.
Balad is in the so-called Sunni Triangle, the place of frequent assaults on US and Iraqi security forces.
O'Brien said: "Those responsible for suicide attacks are seeking to halt Iraq's progress on the path to democracy."
Attempts to widen sectarian rifts
The Shiite leaders who spoke on Sunday belong to the Unified Iraqi Alliance, a mainstream Shiite coalition running in the election.
The group was expected to do extremely well in the election and its leaders likely will have top government posts if the vote goes through.
They reached out to Sunni Arabs, many of whom are boycotting the vote and have sought a delay, and called for talks to avert civil war.
Iraq's insurgents, believed to be predominantly Sunni, repeatedly have targeted Shiites in apparent attempts to widen sectarian rifts.
Sheikh Humam Hamoudy, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is part of the coalition said: "The Iraqi Unified Alliance calls for national talks to stand against the civil war or sectarianism conflict"
"We call for unity particularly with the Sunni brothers because there is a large plan to create a sectarian fight."
- AP