A car bomb exploded Saturday outside a police station in Iraq's third largest city, killing at least nine people and wounding 45, witnesses and hospital staff said.
Witnesses in the northern city of Mosul saw severed limbs and decapitated bodies on the street in front of the police station. Windows of buildings were shattered and plumes of smoke could be seen in the area.
Staff at the Republican Hospital in Mosul said nine people including civilians and policemen were killed and 45 others were injured.
Saturday was a pay day and the police station was crowded with staff at the time of the midmorning attack, said police Lt. Mohammed Fadil, according to The AP.
A US military spokesman said, "We are aware of a report of an IED (improvised explosive device) or a car bomb that exploded near the Mosul police station this morning."
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera television network reported the pieces of the car apparently carrying the bomb were found 300 yards away. At least five nearby cars were damaged. It added that no US forces were in the vicinity at the time of the explosion.
According to witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity, it appeared that a car drove through a security barricade in front of the police station before exploding outside the building.
One policeman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the blast was so powerful that there were casualties not only on the street but also inside the building.
The police station is located next to the University of Mosul campus.
Elsewhere, also Saturday, a bomb exploded under a high-ranking police officer's car parked in front of his house in the capital of Baghdad, slightly injuring five children in the street.
"We woke up frightened when we heard a big explosion," said Col. Adnan Radeef al-Ani, who heads a quick response field. He said the bomb was apparently triggered by a timer.
"Maybe I was targeted because I am working with the Americans," he was cited by The AP as saying.
In the meantime, also Saturday, a homemade bomb planted on a road exploded as a US Army convoy passed by, killing three soldiers, the US military said.
A military spokesman said an improvised bomb blew up about 25 miles southwest of Kirkuk, near a convoy of the 4th Infantry Division. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
