BASRA, Iraq (AP) - Near-simultaneous explosions ripped through three police stations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Wednesday and many casualties were reported, witnesses said. At one station in the Saudia district of Basra, four vehicles were seen destroyed including two school buses. At least one of the school buses appeared to have been full of passengers, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said. The facade of the Saudia station was also heavily damaged.
Police Maj. Ouda al-Jabiri, at Saudia, said the cause of the blasts was not immediately known. There was a hole two yards deep and three yards wide in front of the Saudi station.
| More from the BBC, 12:30 AM CDT |
Rush-hour blasts probably caused by car bombs have hit three police stations in Iraq's second city of Basra, killing at least 40 and injuring scores. Two school buses, one of them apparently full of children, were destroyed in one of the attacks, an AP correspondent reports from the scene.
A British officer said the three attacks had been near-simultaneous. A UK military official in the city suggested the three explosions, which all came at about 0715 (0315 GMT), had been caused by car bombs. "They were vehicle-based improvised explosive devices," said Squadron Leader John Arnold. |