Hostage freed; Iran warns against ‘provocative’ action in Najaf
MOSUL, Iraq: Five Iraqis were killed and 20 wounded yesterday when a mortar bomb slammed into a market in the centre of the main northern city of Mosul, police and hospital sources said.
The afternoon attack came after at least four Iraqis were killed and another four wounded when a minibus was caught up in a shoot-out between US forces and insurgents near the southern city of Kut, police and the military said. Policeman Muzahim Abdullah Al Shimmari said a mortar round struck the Bab Al Tob market at around 2:00 pm (1000 GMT). Five bodies and 20 injured patients were admitted to hospital after the attack, an official said.
Iraqi police said five women students were killed and another five wounded when a US convoy was attacked by unknown gunmen at around 8:30 am outside Kut. “US troops returned fire just as a minibus carrying the students passed by. Five of them were killed and five wounded, three of whom are in a critical condition,” said Lieutenant Hussein Abbas Rodhan.
But a statement from the US-led multinational forces in Iraq said four passengers in the bus were killed and four wounded when the bus was caught in the crossfire.
Foreign troops on patrol in the town of Kut Al Hayy, south of Kut, at the request of the local Iraqi authorities, will be replaced by Iraqi police and national guardsmen, a statement said.
Militiamen loyal to radical leader Moqtada Al Sadr have previously clashed with security forces in and around Kut, but it was not immediately clear if the militia leader’s Mehdi Army were involved in the shootout.
In Baghdad, a mortar bomb hit the roof of the foreign ministry but caused no casualties, said an official at the ministry’s Press office.
The department stands just a stone’s throw from the heavily fortified Green Zone – the seat of the interim government and the US embassy – where a key national conference to choose a provisional parliament pushed into a fourth day.
Meanwhile, a mortar bomb attack on Poland’s main military base in Iraq yesterday wounded a total of seven Poles and other nationals and put the base on a heightened state of alert, a spokesman for the Polish army said.
“Two Polish soldiers and one civilian were injured in the attack and have been released from hospital. Four other nationals received minor injuries to their legs and hands,” said Zdzislaw Gnatowski, spokesman for the General Staff in Warsaw.
The army said seven grenades had hit the camp in a matter of minutes soon after 1030 GMT, although Polish media cited journalists stationed at Camp Babylon saying up to a dozen grenades were fired. “We are investigating who was behind this attack and have raised the alert level at the camp by one notch, but otherwise we are just getting on with our role,” Gnatowski said.
He declined to give details of the other nationals injured, but Polish media reported American and Indian civilians were among the wounded. Spokesmen at Camp Babylon were not available for comment. The Polish base is located several kilometres from the volatile town of Hilla – where insurgents have repeatedly battled US troops and pro-Washington Iraqi forces over the past days.
In Ankara, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that a Turkish truck driver abducted by suspected Iraqi militants has been released.
Mustafa Koksal was one of two Turkish drivers who were taken hostage while bringing supplies to US forces in Iraq, family members said this week.
He was now at the Turkish embassy in Baghdad ahead of his return to Turkey, Gul said.
The whereabouts of the second driver, Mustafa Kumdereli, remained unclear.
n TEHRAN: Iran warned the United States yesterday against any action in the Iraqi city of Najaf which might be considered “provocative” by Muslims, the official news agency IRNA reported.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi made it clear that Muslims would consider any US encroachment into the Imam Ali Shrine, one of the holiest sites in the Shiite Muslim world, “provocative for the Muslims worldwide” and hoped that “such an unwise action not to take place”, Irna said. – Agencies


photo: US tanks patrol in the streets of Najaf yesterday. – DPA
Last update on: 19-8-2004