Bomb at Italian Base in Iraq Kills at Least 27

Xen

Magister
Joined
Feb 10, 2003
Messages
16,004
Location
Formosa
As presented by netscape news

By Andrew Hammond and Khudair Majeed

NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Suicide car bombers devastated an Italian military police base in the Iraqi town of Nassiriya on Wednesday, killing at least 18 Italians and nine Iraqis.

In Washington, President Bush directed Iraq's U.S. governor Paul Bremer to speed the transfer of postwar authority to the Iraqi people. The move followed Bremer's sudden recall to the U.S. capital on Tuesday for urgent consultations.

U.S. forces hit back against Iraqi guerrillas following a succession of night-time attacks on the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad that has underscored the growing boldness of the insurgents. A military statement codenamned the new sweep operation "Iron Hammer."

It said U.S. forces used a Hercules aircraft modified for attack to destroy an abandoned warehouse thought to be used by guerrillas. Two Iraqis were killed in a U.S. helicopter strike against a van used to launch mortar attacks on the U.S. military.


But the U.S.-led occupation forces faced their biggest challenge with a suicide bombing in the southern town of Nassiriya that tore off the front of the three-storey concrete building used by Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police. The blast, on the Euphrates riverfront, set cars on fire and sent a plume of black smoke into the air. Sixteen servicemen and two Italian civilians were killed -- Italy's highest military death toll since World War II. "A truck crashed into the entrance of the military police unit, closely followed by a car which detonated," a spokeswoman for the British-led multinational force in southern Iraq said.


The Italian ANSA news agency cited Giorgio Cornacchione, commander of Italina troops in Nassiriya, as saying there were four suicide bombers in two vehicles with between 150 and 300 kg of explosives.


Khudair al-Hazbar, director of Nassiriya General Hospital, said at least nine Iraqis were killed and more than 80 wounded.


"The front of my house is destroyed," Jamal Kadhim Shwail, a doctor who lives near the base, told Reuters by telephone. "I have just come back from the hospital where I operated on my own two daughters. It was a huge explosion. We are all in shock."


Martino said fighters loyal to deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein were behind the attack.


URGENT TALKS IN WASHINGTON


U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity said a Central Intelligence Agency report had concluded that Iraqis were increasingly siding with the insurgency amid doubts about U.S. ability to crush it.


The report, warning of possible failure for Bush's efforts to establish Iraq as a democracy if the situation is not fixed, said aggressive U.S. counter-insurgency measures were also leaving many Iraqis disillusioned and pushing them to back rebels, one U.S. official said.


Bremer rushed back from Baghdad to Washington on Tuesday for talks with top Bush aides on Iraq's future.


Bremer said he would return to Baghdad for talks with members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council on how best to accelerate a handover of power to Iraqis.


"We are looking at all sorts of ideas and we do want to accelerate the pace of reform," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters.


Jalal Talabani, who holds the rotating presidency of the Governing Council, said the best way forward was to install a provisional government without delay.


BLOODIEST ATTACK SINCE AUGUST


Wednesday's bombing, described by Pope John Paul as a "vile attack" against a mission of peace, was the bloodiest single attack in Iraq since August when at least 80 Iraqis were killed by a car bomb outside a mosque in Najaf.


The Italian deaths were the first among non-British members of the southern multinational force in hostile fire.


Around 2,300 Italian troops are in southern Iraq, many based in Nassiriya which had been relatively calm since the war.


Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Italian troops would stay.


Attacks in Iraq have killed at least 155 U.S. soldiers since major combat was declared over on May 1. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks on Tuesday.


An Iraqi security guard was killed on Wednesday in the northern city of Mosul as a U.S. military compound came under attack by insurgents firing rocket propelled grenades and small-arms. Military authorities said a group of 14 men attacked the compound, there were no U.S. casualties.


In Falluja, west of Baghdad, U.S. soldiers opened fire on a truck, killing five Iraqis, hospital officials said.


(Additional reporting by Andrew Marshall and Alistair Lyon in Baghdad and Shasta Darlington in Rome)
 
It needs to be said- its more unusal, I think, for a "mere" ally of the US to be attcked then the US forces directley...
 
I wouldn't be surprised if Italy pulls out or at least reconsiders their stay there after this. They weren't a huge ally, after all, so there wouldn't be a "shame on you, you fought the war" reaction from the world.
 
Berlusconi defiant over Iraq
Wednesday, November 12, 2003 Posted: 2:51 PM EST (1951 GMT)

ROME, Italy -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says his country will not be intimidated in the wake of a deadly attack on an Italian police compound in Iraq.

"No intimidation will budge us from our willingness to help that country rise up again and rebuild itself with self-government, security and freedom," Berlusconi said in a statement.

"Pain is at this time a feeling shared by the entire nation. But we also feel pride for the courage and humanity with which our troops ... have worked and still work to make the situation tolerable for children, women, the elderly and the weak who live in that martyred region."

The Italian death toll from the bombing had reached 17 by mid-evening, said Lt. Catherine McIntosh, a British spokeswoman with Multinational defense forces. Eight Iraqis also were killed, hospital sources told CNN. (Latest developments)

Flags were lowered to half-mast across Italy and the Italian Senate observed a minute of silence.

Speaking later to the Senate, Berlusconi expressed "deep pain for all of those who died because of a terrorist action during a humanitarian expedition for the Iraqis."

But he added that the attack in Nasiriyaa was "inevitable" given the recent rash of violence in the country.

Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino blamed the suicide attack against the military police and army headquarters in Nasiriya on Arab extremists and guerrillas sympathetic to the former regime of Saddam Hussein.

Opposition leaders reacted to Wednesday's blast by demanding the withdrawal of Italian personnel.

Pope John Paul II said it was a "vile attack" and expressed his "most firm condemnation," Reuters reported.

"I express my firmest condemnation of this new act of violence that, added with other cruel gestures carried out in that tormented country, does not help pacification or renewal," the pope said in a message to Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

Ciampi said the attack would not change Italy's resolve to fight terrorism.

About 3,000 Italians are in Iraq, under British command, as part of the U.S.-led coalition. The Italian military police are part of the army serving with a dual role.

Pietro Folena from the main opposition party, the Democrats, said it was time for Italians to pull out of Iraq -- a demand backed by other opposition parties, Reuters reported.

"They were sent to an Iraq in flames because the government wanted to do a favor for the Bush administration without taking risks into consideration," he said.

"Now the Italian soldiers must come home. It is the only right thing to do at this moment."

Wednesday's bombing came as a CIA assessment warned the security situation will worsen across Iraq, not just in Baghdad but in the north and south as well, a senior administration source told CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/12/italy.blast.reaction/index.html
 
Didn't expect anything else from Berlusconi :goodjob:
 
Italian military support in Iraq is just for politic causes.
 
I wonder what will happen, when the now governing alliance splits. Their overdue already, but maybe they last another 300 days. And if there's a change, I do not think that a new goverment has too much interest in staying in Iraq.
 
an dwhat if they DONT split- will you eat your words? ;)
 
The Mafia will 'go to the mattresses' to exact revenge. Tommorow morning, Saddam will wake up with his donkeys head in his bed.
 
Top Bottom