Suicide attack injures 58 US soldiers

A SUICIDE car bomber wounded 58 US soldiers and three Iraqis yesterday when he charged the gates of a US military base and blew up his vehicle as troops opened fire.

In Baghdad, a blast hit a Sunni mosque after morning prayers, killing three Iraqis and raising the spectre of further sectarian tension adding to instability in Iraq.

Near the flashpoint town of Falluja west of the capital, a US Kiowa helicopter made an emergency landing after coming under fire, an American military spokeswoman said. “Both crew walked away with minimal injuries,” the US spokeswoman said.

The day of violence around Iraq began with the blast at the US base in the northern town of Tal Afar shortly before dawn. The explosives-laden car blew a crater in the street and sent glass and debris flying over a wide area.

“It was definitely a suicide bomb. There were pieces of the individual all over the compound,” said Colonel Michael Linnington of the 101st Airborne Division.

Colonel Linnington said soldiers manning the gate at the camp 45km west of Mosul opened fire after the driver charged toward them, ignoring orders to stop.

“The soldiers hit the driver several times, causing him to detonate the bomb prematurely,” Linnington said.

Most of the 58 soldiers injured suffered cuts, bruises and broken bones, the military said, but four were more seriously wounded and were evacuated to a military hospital.

The US Army said there was also a suicide attack at a US field hospital north of Baghdad. An officer there said some soldiers were slightly wounded when a man, acting as if he was wounded, detonated a device apparently strapped to his back.

Since Washington launched the war on Saddam Hussein in March, 308 US soldiers have been killed in action, 193 of them since President George W Bush declared major combat over at the beginning of May.

The violence has also spread to coalition members and among Iraqi groups vying for position in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

In Baghdad, Iraqi police said explosives under a car parked in the grounds of a Sunni mosque were detonated shortly after morning prayers, killing three people and wounding one.

“We are pointing the finger of accusation at the Shi’ites for this act,” said Sheikh Ahmad Dabbash, who leads prayers at the Ahbab al-Mustafa mosque.

In a show of support for the US-led coalition, Japan’s cabinet approved a plan yesterday to send non-combat troops to Iraq, despite strong voter opposition. Japan’s landmark decision, allows for the dispatch of up to 600 army personnel in a one-year period starting on December 15.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, explaining the decision at a news conference in Tokyo, said: “They will not exercise military force, they are not going there to stage war.”