BAGHDAD,
February 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A booby-trapped
car rammed into a recruiting facility of the U.S.-formed new Iraqi
army in Baghdad early on Wednesday, February 11, killing at least 47
people.
The
latest total, which included 48 injured, was compiled from hospital
lists around the city and confirmed by deputy interior minister
Lieutenant-General Ahmad Kazim, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Saddam
Jaber Mohsen, head of emergency services at Baghdad's al-Karkh
hospital, said his facility had received 39 dead and 17 injured, six
seriously.
Officials
at the al-Karama hospital reported seven deaths and 27 injury cases,
including seven in life-threatening condition.
At
the city's Yarmuk hospital, emergency room doctor Hamid Yehya
al-Musssawi said five seriously injured people were admitted to
hospital, adding one man who lost an arm and leg and suffered heavy
burns died on arrival.
The
attack occurred near the Green Zone, the high-security area where the
U.S.-led occupation authority has its headquarters.
U.S.
military spokesman Colonel Ralph Baker said from the scene that a car,
loaded with 135-225kg (300-500 pounds) of explosives, had been driven
up to the recruiting center by a single male.
"It
was a suicide attack," he said.
Eyewitnesses
reported a large fire broke out after the attack and body parties
strewn all around.
"I
saw a white Oldsmobile slowly approaching. It ran over some people and
exploded. I was blown up in the air and saw fire and body parts all
around me," the BBC News Online quoted as saying Ghasan Sameer,
32, an officer in the new Iraqi army, who was hospitalized with broken
legs and shrapnel wounds.
A
security guard who was searching people going into the army
recruitment office when the blast occurred described the scene as
"apocalyptic", the BBC said.
A
spokesman for the U.S. occupation forces said that recruits to the
Iraqi police and army were coming forward in droves, despite the
attacks.
"We
have more Iraqis now in security positions protecting Iraqi people
than there are coalition forces in the country," Gareth Bayley
told the World Update program.
But
the BBC correspondent said this points to the high rates of
unemployment in Iraq, especially after the U.S. forces had disbanded
the army and key ministries after the occupation.
Many
angry townspeople blamed the Americans for the blast, some suggesting
it was the result of a U.S. air attack.
"The
Americans want to tear our unity apart," Hadi Mohy Ali, 60, told
Associated Press.
Anti-American
feelings are raging on among Iraqis, feeling betrayed by the U.S.
hollow promises to return the situation back to normal and transfer
power to the Iraqis.
