Basra police headquarters attacked
Updated: 2007-09-25 23:35
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber struck the police headquarters in Basra on Tuesday, killing at least three officers and wounding 20 people amid fears over the southern city's deteriorating security situation.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, at least seven people were killed - six in a car bombing on a shopping street in an eastern neighborhood near a line of pensioners outside a bank, the police said. Another person died in a roadside bomb.
Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, had been relatively peaceful for much of the war but has seen tensions rise as Shiite militias battle for control of the oil-rich area.
Maj. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, Basra's police chief, said one of the suicide bomber's legs had been found tied to the steering wheel, and he blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the attack.
"It seems that al-Qaida wants to make use of the fragile situation in the city caused by the tension among the parties and the city's officials," he said. "We cannot say that there is a security vacuum, but the security measures are less strong in the day than the night. After this attack, we will increase the police patrols in the day."
Security concerns also rose after the British military last month pulled back its troops out of the city to a nearby airport to allow Iraqi security forces to take over - a move being closely watched by the US military as it anticipates the eventual withdrawal of American forces in other areas of Iraq.
Provincial leaders northeast of Baghdad, meanwhile, pledged to press ahead with efforts to bring Shiites and Sunnis together after a suicide attacker struck a unity meeting of about 800 people in Baqouba, killing at least 24, including the city's police chief and other top officials. The US military, which blamed al-Qaida for the attack, said 37 people were wounded.
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