Car Bomb Attack in Basra kills 46

By Dillon Stars
AFP
Monday, January 24, 2005; 8:18 AM

In Basra today, explosives packed in a car detonated at a police checkpoint, killing 46 police officers and injuring 3, witnesses said.

US troops and tanks sealed off the area, which was strewn with parts of flaming wreckage and human remains.

The driver of the Ford Focus slammed his bomb-laden car into a pickup truck that was used to block the gate leading to the police checkpoint and detonated the load of explosives, said policeman Yousef Islam.

The blast was extremely powerful, hurling the body of one of the police officers more than 100 yards, witnesses said.

"I heard the explosion, and it shattered glass everywhere," said Salih Khamis, a 26-year-old doctor. "I saw cars burned and destroyed, fire, and body parts all over."

U.S. officials called the attack a sign of the insurgents' desperation.

"The fact of the matter is we're keeping the insurgents off balance and they're reeling backward. They're trying to come at us and we're giving it right back," Brigadier General Brad Normal said.

"The terrorists are growing more desperate in their attempts to deprive the world of a free and peaceful Iraq and they're trying to put it all on the line and give it all they can."

There was no claim of responsibility for the latest Basra attack, but it followed warnings blared from mosque speakers that Iraqis should stay away from police installations.

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