Three Iraqis killed in Baghdad mortar attack

A car bomb exploded in a busy Mosul market today and a mortar barrage struck near the Italian Embassy and an Iraqi National Guard base in Baghdad, killing three civilians and wounding at least seven.

A US soldier was wounded during a wave of attacks in the volatile city of Samarra, that claimed the lives of five Iraqis.

US military spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Hastings said two Iraqis were injured and taken to hospital after a car bomb exploded at 11.35am (8.35am Irish time) in eastern Mosul. Iraqi policeman Hassan Ahmed said the blast happened in an eastern Mosul fruit and vegetable market.

Mosul, 225 miles north-west of Baghdad, has been the scene of regular attacks against US and Iraqi forces by insurgents aimed at derailing the country’s reconstruction.

The bombing follows yesterday’s clashes in Mosul between police and insurgents that killed four militants.

Insurgents fired multiple mortar rounds toward an Iraqi National Guard base and the nearby Italian Embassy in Baghdad’s Waziriyah neighbourhood. Police Lt. Hussein Ali said three civilians were killed and five wounded in the attack.

“I heard an explosion and went to see what caused it and then another mortar came in and hit me,” blast victim Bassem Mal-allah said from a nearby hospital.

Civilians are often killed and wounded by insurgents who are mounting attacks against Iraqi security forces seen as supporting the US-led forces in Iraq.

The rebels launched a series of attacks against US and Iraqi government troops in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad yesterday, leaving five Iraqis dead and several more wounded. An American soldier was slightly injured in a roadside bomb attack at about 8pm (5pm Irish time) in the volatile city.

Also yesterday, Samarra’s police chief Maj. Gen. Talib Shamel al-Samarrai announced his resignation saying he was unable to do his job properly.

“When I felt that I wasn’t carrying out my duties as I should, I had to give an opportunity for someone else to carry on,” al-Samarrai said.

Resignations of top police officials, rampant absenteeism in the force, and continuing assaults on police stations have raised concerns about the feasibility of holding elections next month to choose a 275-seat assembly, whose primary task will be drafting a permanent constitution for the overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

Shiite figures supporting Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most senior Shiite cleric in Iraq, are expected to make an announcement regarding efforts to form a coalition of predominantly political parties and independents to stand in the January 30 elections.

Al-Sistani has been working to unite Iraq’s majority Shiites, who comprise 60 percent of the population, ahead of the vote to ensure victory. The Iranian-born cleric is overseeing the work of top aides seeking to compile a 165-candidate list, to be known as the United Iraqi Alliance, which would be put to the voters nationwide.

The US military announced yesterday that the number of American combat deaths in Iraq since the start of the war rose to 1,001; the latest reported was a soldier killed by small-arms fire in Baghdad on Tuesday. The total number who have died since March 2003 is 1,281.

Unofficial estimates of Iraqi casualties range from 13,000 to 30,000 Iraqi civilians killed by acts of war since the 2003 US-led invasion, by both US coalition forces and anti-US fighters and terrorists. No reliable count exists for insurgents killed.

In a move sure to gladden US-led military commanders, Japan and South Korea look set to extend the deployment of their troops in Iraq.

Japan’s Cabinet today approved a plan to keep its 550 non-combat troops in southern Iraq for another year. The current mission, focussing on water purification and other recontruction projects, was scheduled to expire on Tuesday.

As South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun paid a surprise Wednesday visit to the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, a South Korean parliamentary committee approved a government proposal to extend the deployment of the 3,600-troop contingent in Iraq for another year. The bill must be approved by a National Assembly plenary session on Thursday.