Bomb kills seven as Iraq state of emergency extended
A roadside bomb killed seven US soldiers in north-west Baghdad and two Marines were killed in western Iraq, the deadliest day for American forces since a suicide attack on a US base last month.
The bombing came yesterday as Iraq extended a state of emergency by 30 days to battle militants whose attacks have surged ahead of this month’s elections. The prime minister warned the number of assaults would only rise as voting day draws closer.
Just three weeks before the January 30 elections, the commander of US ground forces in Iraq acknowledged that security is poor in four of 18 Iraqi provinces. But Lt Gen Thomas Metz told a briefing in the capital that delaying the vote would only increase the danger.
“I can’t guarantee that every person in Iraq that wants to vote, goes to a polling booth and can do that safely,” Metz said. “We’re going to do everything possible to create that condition for them, but we are fighting an enemy who (couldn't care) less who he kills, when he kills and how he kills. A delay in the elections just gives the thugs and terrorists more time to continue their intimidation, their cruelty, their brutal murders of innocent people.”
The soldiers with Task Force Baghdad were on patrol yesterday evening when their Bradley fighting vehicle hit the explosive, the military said in a statement. Everyone inside the Bradley was killed.
No other details were immediately available about the latest attack. But Iraq’s insurgents have frequently targeted American troops with crude explosives planted in roads and detonated remotely as patrols pass.
The two other US Marines killed in action yesterday were both members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and lost their lives in Anbar province, which is home to the volatile city of Fallujah.
The previous four days had seen a string of assassinations, suicide car bombings and other assaults that killed 90 people.
On Tuesday, five American troops were killed, including three Task Force Baghdad soldiers who died in a roadside bombing, one who was slain in Anbar, and another who died in Balad, north of Baghdad.
But yesterday’s toll was the highest for the US military in Iraq since a suicide bombing at a mess tent in Mosul on December 21 killed 22 people, including 14 US soldiers and three American contractors.
The latest deaths brought the number of US troops killed since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003 to 1,350. At least 1,063 died as a result of hostile action.
The state of emergency, originally announced two months ago, was extended for 30 days throughout the country except for the northern Kurdish-run areas, a government statement said. The decree includes a night-time curfew and gives the government additional power to make arrests and launch military or police operations.
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said he expected the number of attacks would rise before the January 30 vote and called the decision on prolonging the state of emergency a precaution. He blamed former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime for the continuing violence.
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