Multiple casualties at explosion at US base in Mosul

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15864-2004Dec21.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/21/iraq.main/

CNN same basic details - but padded out with other news:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/21/iraq.main/index.html

Multiple casualties reported at U.S. base in Iraq
Tuesday, December 21, 2004 Posted: 9:09 AM EST (1409 GMT)



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military reported "multiple casualties" from an explosion Tuesday at an American military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

No further details were immediately available.

Tuesday's attack came shortly after British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit to Iraq.

During a news conference with Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Blair called the insurgency "a battle between democracy and terror," in advance of Iraqi elections set for January 30.

"On the one side you have people who desperately want to make the democratic process work ... and on the other side, people who are killing and intimidating and trying to destroy a better future for Iraq." (Full story)

On Sunday, Iraqi officials reported 52 deaths resulting from a car bomb attack in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf and 16 deaths from another car bombing about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. (Full story)

During a Monday news conference in Washington, President Bush said "terrorists will attempt to delay the elections, to intimidate people in their country, to disrupt the democratic process in any way they can."

Still, he added, "I'm confident that terrorists will fail, the elections will go forward and Iraq will be a democracy that reflects the values and traditions of its people." (Full story)

Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force early Tuesday launched airstrikes on insurgents fighting American troops west of Baghdad in the town of Hit, a U.S. military spokesman said.

"At approximately 2 a.m. this morning [6 p.m. ET Monday], a U.S. Air Force aircraft, in support of troops in contact, engaged an enemy fighting position with precision weapons," said 1st Sgt. Steve Valley with the Combined Press Information Center.

No other information was immediately available.

Near Baiji, Iraq, on Tuesday, oil pipelines were reported on fire, sources from Northern Oil Company said. The cause of the fire was unknown, the sources said. The fires are near portions of pipelines that were damaged by saboteurs two days ago.

The burning pipelines intersect the Ceyhan export line and a domestic line and carry oil from the Kirkuk oil fields.

Part of story from Phoenix's Washingtom Post article:

Blast at U.S. Base in Mosul Causes Multiple Casualties

By Maher al-Thanoon
Reuters
Tuesday, December 21, 2004; 9:10 AM

MOSUL, Iraq -- A blast caused many injuries at a U.S. military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday, the U.S. military said.

"At 12 p.m. today an explosion occurred at a U.S. military installation in Mosul causing multiple casualties," it said in a statement, giving no details. "The cause of the explosion is under investigation."
Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Task Force Olympia, the U.S. force responsible for Mosul and surrounding areas, said he would give no more details for the time being.

"Details are still coming in and at this time we don't have a final casualty count or confirmed cause of the explosion," Sergeant Joseph Sanchez said in a statement.

Witnesses heard two or three explosions and saw smoke rising from the biggest U.S. base in the region, around an airfield in the southwest of the city known as Camp Merez.

However, explosions are commonplace in the area and the blasts attracted no particular attention among local people.

People living close to a headquarters base in the north of the city, Camp Freedom, said they were aware of nothing unusual. The same was true of a small base in the city centre.

Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, has seen incessant violence for the past few weeks since Sunni Arab insurgents routed the U.S.-trained police force in November while many U.S. forces were concentrated on storming guerrilla bases in Falluja.

Ethnic tensions have also been inflamed in a city that is home to both Arabs and Kurds.

There has been speculation that Jordanian al Qaeda ally Abu Musab Zarqawi, once active around Falluja, west of Baghdad, had moved some of his operations to the Mosul area...........

Update.....damn!



http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=35169

That's what happens in war.