Baghdad, 1 Nov. (AKI) - A child thought to be just ten years old, wearing an explosives belt, has died in a roadside explosion at the al-Quds intersection, near the oil rich city of Kirkuk. The 'suicide' attack occurred as a car carrying a senior Iraqi police official, Colonel Khatab, passed by. The official and his driver were wounded and are being treated in hospital. The report of such a young child being used for terror attacks comes as the US military issued a report showing how difficult it can be for its soldiers to prevent roadside bombs.
The report examined combat operations in and around Baghdad over a five day period. It notes that soldiers found several powerful roadside bombs hidden in two vehicles and also caught insurgents planting a bomb on a street and defused it. Seven American servicemen were also killed in two separate roadside attacks
In October, 93 American troops were reported killed, making it the fourth-deadliest month in the war for them. Iraqi civilian losses go mostly uncounted. Military commanders in Iraq expect attacks by Sunni insurgents to intensify ahead of the 15 December parliamentary elections and warn that roadside bombs are becoming increasingly sophisticated. |