/ 26 October 2004

Four car bombs hit Iraq city

Four car bombs exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday, without causing any injuries, but two people were wounded by gunfire, the United States army and local medics said.

Iraqi police spotted two vehicles laden with explosives parked on an intersection north-east of the city centre and called the US army for support, said Captain Angela Bowman.

”Before we arrived, the car bombs had detonated,” she said, adding that no one was hurt.

Moments later, a separate US patrol came under attack as it was returning to its base in Mosul.

”They were attacked with one vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and small-arms fire,” said Bowman. The soldiers fired back but were attacked a second time with another car bomb, she said.

”There were no US injuries and initial reports indicate there were two civilian injuries.”

Dr Kais Jassem al-Obeidi, from Mosul’s university hospital, said two people had been admitted with slight gunshot wounds.

Car bombs are a favourite tool in a bloody insurgency that has ravaged the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year.

Four people were killed and four wounded on Monday in a double car bombing against the provincial government offices in Mosul and other administrative targets. The US military said three people killed in one of the bombings were all attackers and that the device had exploded prematurely. — Sapa-AFP