Four killed in car bomb blast

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a US military camp in Baghdad today, killing at least four Iraqi policemen and the attacker.

The explosion took place as a police patrol was passing about 300yds in front of Camp Curvo, which is run by the 1st Calvary Division.

The blast went off just after the officers had stopped the car bomber, who was travelling in the wrong direction on the road.

Police Captain Abdul-Razzaq Kadhem, the deputy director of Rustomiyah police station, said four policemen were killed, together with the bomber.

“I think this is the last gasp of the terrorists,” Kadhem said. “Iraq will not die. We will survive this, we will survive this.”

Two charred bodies of policemen – covered by blankets – could be seen in one of the damaged police cars that was part of the patrol.

Eight civilian cars were damaged, Kadhem said.

Police sealed off the area.

Earlier a suspected rocket hit the heavily fortified Green Zone headquarters area of the American-run occupation authority. There were no reports of casualties.

Explosions could be heard from the sprawling compound along the banks of the Tigris river in Baghdad. White smoke rose from above one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces and a person inside the zone, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one building had been hit.

“It was a suspected rocket,” a coalition information officer said. “There were no reports of injuries. It’s still under investigation.”

The blast sent workers in the palace to the building’s basement shelter.