/ 12 October 2007

Iraq bomb hidden in toy cart hits children

A bomb hidden in a cart of toys killed two children and wounded 17 others in a playground in northern Iraq on Friday, the first day of a national holiday to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The attack came the day after United States forces killed nine children and six women in an air strike north-west of Baghdad targeting suspected al-Qaeda leaders. The United Nations mission in Iraq urged US forces to conduct a ”vigorous” probe into the strike.

Police Colonel Abbas Mohammed said a would-be suicide bomber pushed the cart into a play area in the predominantly Shi’ite northern town of Tuz Khurmato. He said the bomber was wounded.

The town’s mayor, Mohammed Rasheed, said two boys aged between 10 and 12 died and another 17 people under the age of 18 were wounded in the deadly attack.

A youth with a smashed, bloodied face and mangled hand lay on a hospital bed in the nearby city of Kirkuk after the attack. A man prayed by an injured boy while doctors wreathed the chest, arms and shoulders of another with bandages.

The US military said it was conducting a ”thorough investigation” of Thursday’s strike by attack helicopters near Lake Thar Thar, about 80km north-west of Baghdad.

The incident, on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, is likely to reignite tensions between Washington and Baghdad, which has repeatedly criticised US forces over the number of Iraqi civilians killed in military operations.

There was no immediate response from the Iraqi government, which was shut down for the Muslim holiday.

The civilian death toll in the US attack was one of the largest acknowledged by US forces from an air strike since former president Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.

”Civilians are getting caught far too often between warring combatants,” said UN mission spokesperson Said Arikat. ”We certainly hope that they do pursue this vigorously and that these findings will be made public and lessons learned.”

In the same operation, the US military said it also killed 19 insurgents in strikes on two locations. The strikes targeted suspected leaders of al-Qaeda, accused of attacking US and Iraqi forces, tribal leaders and civilians across the country.

Thorough investigation

”We are doing a thorough investigation to understand the events that surround the incident, especially since there was a significant loss of civilian life,” US military spokesperson Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said.

”In every instance we take as many precautions as possible to ensure innocent lives are not at risk,” he said. ”We are committed to working with the affected families and taking care of their needs.”

The US military has stepped up efforts to target insurgents in Baghdad and surrounding provinces since an extra 30 000 troops came into the country earlier this year.

The US security crackdown is credited with a marked drop in civilian and US deaths in September. But the relentless suicide attacks, sectarian killings and roadside bombs still accounted for almost 900 civilians dead, or about 30 a day.

In its latest human rights report on Iraq, published on Thursday, the UN called on US forces to investigate the killing of civilians in air strikes or raids by ground forces and make the findings public.

Iraqi civilians have borne the overwhelming brunt of violence since the US-led invasion in March 2003, with tens of thousands killed across the country.

The UN also called for probes to determine whether private security contractors in Iraq have committed war crimes by killing civilians and for governments to ensure that the rule of law is applied.

The killing of 17 Iraqis in a shooting involving US security firm Blackwater last month has created tensions between Baghdad and Washington and sparked calls for tighter controls on private contractors, who are immune from prosecution in Iraq. — Reuters

Additional reporting by Ross Colvin