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Iraqis say 18 boys die in car bomb; U.S. reports 'controlled' blast in area but no deaths
The Associated Press
Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: News
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Police and Iraqi state television said a car bomb exploded Tuesday near a park popular with young soccer players, killing at least 18 boys in Ramadi, a city west of Baghdad.
However, the U.S. military said 30 civilians and one Iraqi soldier were injured in a "controlled detonation" of explosives southeast of Ramadi but there were no deaths. The military routinely blows up captured weapons and ammunition.
It was unclear whether there were two blasts or confusion over the casualties from a single explosion.
Both local police and state television said the bomb-rigged car blew apart Tuesday afternoon while the boys, aged 10-15, were playing in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold about 70 miles west of Baghdad.
The Interior Ministry did not immediately return calls for details.
In Baghdad on Tuesday, at least 10 people were killed in bombings amid a security operation launched this month targeting militant factions and sectarian death squads that have ruled the capital's streets.
As part of the sweeps, U.S. and Iraqi forces staged raids in Baghdad's main Shiite militant stronghold, making politically sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr withdrew his Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the neighbor-by-neighbor security sweeps move ahead. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and others have opposed extensive U.S.-led patrols through Sadr City, fearing a violent backlash could derail the security effort.
The pre-dawn raids appeared to highlight a strategy of pinpoint strikes in Sadr City rather than the flood of soldiers sent into some Sunni districts.
At least 16 people were arrested after U.S.-Iraqi commandos - using concussion grenades - stormed six homes, police said.
The U.S. military statement said the raids targeted "the leadership of several rogue" Mahdi Army cells that "direct and perpetrate sectarian murder" - an apparent reference to Shiite gangs accused of carrying out execution-style slayings and torture on Sunni rivals.
However, the U.S. military said 30 civilians and one Iraqi soldier were injured in a "controlled detonation" of explosives southeast of Ramadi but there were no deaths. The military routinely blows up captured weapons and ammunition.
It was unclear whether there were two blasts or confusion over the casualties from a single explosion.
Both local police and state television said the bomb-rigged car blew apart Tuesday afternoon while the boys, aged 10-15, were playing in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold about 70 miles west of Baghdad.
The Interior Ministry did not immediately return calls for details.
In Baghdad on Tuesday, at least 10 people were killed in bombings amid a security operation launched this month targeting militant factions and sectarian death squads that have ruled the capital's streets.
As part of the sweeps, U.S. and Iraqi forces staged raids in Baghdad's main Shiite militant stronghold, making politically sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr withdrew his Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the neighbor-by-neighbor security sweeps move ahead. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and others have opposed extensive U.S.-led patrols through Sadr City, fearing a violent backlash could derail the security effort.
The pre-dawn raids appeared to highlight a strategy of pinpoint strikes in Sadr City rather than the flood of soldiers sent into some Sunni districts.
At least 16 people were arrested after U.S.-Iraqi commandos - using concussion grenades - stormed six homes, police said.
The U.S. military statement said the raids targeted "the leadership of several rogue" Mahdi Army cells that "direct and perpetrate sectarian murder" - an apparent reference to Shiite gangs accused of carrying out execution-style slayings and torture on Sunni rivals.
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