Iraq’s have developed a troublesome acronym (of an acronym) of their own, and now appear to be using FEW’s (Field Expedient WMD’s). In the form of a tanker truck containing Chlorine.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A tanker carrying chlorine gas exploded Tuesday morning outside a restaurant in the Iraqi town of Taji, killing at least six people, an Interior Ministry official said. At least 105 other people were either injured by the blast or poisoned by the fumes.
The official said a bomb on board the tanker caused the explosion.
Baghdad Security plan spokesman Gen. Qassim Atta had different casualty figures, telling state-run al-Iraqiya TV that five people died in the blast and 148 were poisoned by the gas.
Taji is located about 12 miles (20 km) north of Baghdad.
In southwestern Baghdad, a car bomb exploded outside a fuel station in the Sadiya district, killing six people and wounding 11 more, police said.
Also in southern Baghdad, Iraqi police said a second car bomb exploded near a market in the Rashid district, leaving five dead and seven wounded.
In Tikrit, a would-be suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest was shot and killed by authorities outside an Iraqi army recruitment center, police said.
Tikrit is about 80 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
In other developments, Iraqi police reported finding 20 bodies across Baghdad on Monday.
Among these, an attack by three suicide car bombers near a U.S.-Iraqi outpost killed two American soldiers and eight Iraqi police officers, Iraqi officials told CNN.
The U.S. military confirmed the American deaths and said 17 U.S. troops were wounded in the “coordinated attack” north of Baghdad, but it did not reveal the strike’s exact location.
Iraqi officials said the insurgents targeted Iraqi police headquarters in Tarmiya — about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Baghdad — which also houses U.S. troops.
After a series of three suicide car bombings, 50 gunmen opened fire on the outpost, the Iraqi officials said.
Insurgents fired small arms and threw grenades after an initial car bombing, a U.S. military official said.
The site, which is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Baghdad, has been secured and the incident is under investigation, according to the U.S. military.
The latest deaths bring to 3,140 the number of U.S. military personnel, including seven Department of Defense civilians, killed in the Iraq war.
The ambush comes as about 112,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces continue a Baghdad security crackdown dubbed “Fardh Al-Qanoon,” or “Enforcing the Law.”
Other developments
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this story.
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