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14 Italians, 8 Iraqis Killed In Attack On Italian Base In Iraq
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Italian soldiers of the18th regiment in Iraq
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Additional
Reporting By Subhy Haddad, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
November 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least 22 people
were reportedly killed and 13 others wounded in an attack Wednesday,
November 12, on an Italian police base in southern Iraq, as the death
toll continued to rise in Iraq with one soldier killed in northern
Baghdad and 5 Iraqi civilians shot dead by U.S. troops in Fallujah.
At
least 14 Italian military policemen and peace keeping soldiers and
eight Iraqis were killed in a truck bomb attack on an Italian police
base in southern Iraq on Wednesday, Italy's ANSA news agency said.
It
added that the Italian casualties were 11 members of the Carabinieri
paramilitary force and three soldiers.
A
booby-trapped car exploded in Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, 400km south of
Baghdad, causing the casualties, IslamOnline.net's correspondent
quoted as saying the spokesman for the Italian forces in Iraq, General
Guido Bellini.
In
Baghdad, a U.S.-led occupation forces spokeswoman said at least 12
people had been confirmed dead and 13 wounded.
The
fire gutted the building housing members of the Italian detachment, as
several other police agents were reportedly trapped under the rubble.
Fire
engulfed several vehicles in a courtyard and an ammunition dump,
according to Andrea Angeli, a spokesman for the U.S.-led occupation
forces following the powerful early-morning explosion.
Expressing
condolences to the families of the dead officers, President Carlo
Azeglio Ciampi said, "we will continue to fulfill our role, at
the side of our allies and the United Nations, in the fight against
international terrorism," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi, for his part, said he Italian forces will
remain in Iraq despite the attack.
"Our
determination is the same as those Italians in uniform who are
honoring the coalition engaged in supporting Iraq on its road to
democracy," Berlusconi said.
"No
intimidation will change our desire to help this country to rebuild
and form a government, in security and freedom," he added.
The
lower house Chamber of Deputies and the Italian Senate suspended their
sessions in mourning on receiving news of the attack.
The
Italian mission includes ground troops, members of the air force and
police along with three naval ships and 40 Red Cross volunteers.
2
U.S. Soldiers Killed
Meanwhile,
two U.S. soldiers were killed and four wounded in separate bomb
attacks in Baghdad late Tuesday, a military spokeswoman said
Wednesday.
"One
1st First Armored Division soldier died and two were wounded in an IED
(improvised explosive device) attack in Baghdad," she told AFP.
"Despite
best efforts at treatment, one soldier was pronounced dead at 9:00 pm
at the 28th Combat Support Hospital. The other two wounded soldiers
were taken to the 47th Combat Support Hospital for treatment,"
she added.
Also
Tuesday, "one Task Force Ironhorse soldier was killed and two
were wounded when their military vehicle struck an IED northwest of
Baghdad," she said.
"The
wounded soldiers were treated at a nearby combat support hospital and
were returned to duty," she added.
The
death raised to 156 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in attacks in
Iraq since May 1, when Washington declared the war on Iraq effectively
over.
They
include six who died when a Blackhawk helicopter was shot
down near Tikrit on Friday, November 7.
Additionally,
the Headquarters of the U.S. occupation forces in the Iraqi capital
has come under a rocket attack on Tuesday, the fourth over the past
few weeks, IOL quoted a U.S. spokesman as saying on Wednesday.
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"No intimidation will change our desire to help this country to rebuild and form a government," Berlusconi |
The
spokesman said that at least 4 rockets, presumably Russian-made
Katusha rockets, fell on the Green Zone, where the former Presidential
Palace, the Conference Palace and Al-Rashid Hotel are located on the
western side of river Tigris.
The
U.S. spokesman admitted that a number of armored vehicles, parked in
the Green Zone, have been damaged due to yesterday night’s rocket
attack.
On
the other side of River Tigris, an area called Al-Rusafa side
witnessed a time-bomb explosion on Tuesday evening that killed 4
civilians and injured 3 others, eyewitnesses said.
The
town of Haditha, some 250km west of Baghdad, witnessed a resistance
attack on a U.S. convoy on the main road in the town, destroying an
army tank, a U.S. spokesman said.
The
top U.S. ground commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez,
said Tuesday that U.S. forces come
under an average of 30 attacks every day.
Iraqis
Gunned Down
Elsewhere
in the war-torn country, five Iraqi civilians died and four others
were wounded when U.S. troops opened fire on a truck at the entrance
of the flashpoint town of Fallujah, police said Wednesday.
The
U.S. military could not confirm the incident that police said took
place late Tuesday in Fallujah, 50km from the capital.
"The
U.S. forces had erected a checkpoint at the entrance of Fallujah to
catch thieves who have been stealing steel from a nearby
factory," police Major Assaad Abdul Karim told AFP.
"When
the truck came near the American base at around 9:00 pm (1800 GMT)
last night, they apparently thought they were steel thieves, so they
opened fire and killed five of them and injured four others," he
said.
"This
is a wrongful action," he charged.
Abdul
Karim said the U.S. forces "asked us to come to their base today
(Wednesday) to take the bodies of the five people killed and the four
other people wounded."
Khaled
Majed Khalifa, who said he lost a son and two grandchildren in the
shooting, told AFP: "We are farmers. We buy and sell chicken in
the region of Fallujah.
"Yesterday,
as usual, my son was with two of my grandchildren and six other people
when they were coming from Karma to the east of Fallujah, on a truck
full of chickens," he said.
"When
they arrived at the entrance of Fallujah, in an area close to a farm
where U.S. troops are based, they came under heavy fire from the U.S.
troops," he said.
"My
son Majed, 37 as well as my grandchildren, Khaled, 10, and Walid, 18,
were killed. Two other people were killed," he said.
Fallujah
lies in the so-called "Sunni triangle" where U.S. troops
come under daily attacks by Iraqis fighting against occupation.
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