8 killed by car bomb near US base in Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-23 16:54

A car bomb exploded outside a base in western Iraq used by the U.S. military and the Iraqi National Guard, killing eight people and wounding 48, witnesses and hospital officials said.

An Iraqi police officer arrives after a car bomb exploded in Mosul October 22, 2004. A suicide bomber was killed, along with one civilian, when a car bomb was detonated near a passing U.S. convoy. A U.S. military spokesman said no troops were hurt in the incident. [Reuters]

The blast hit right outside the gates of the Baghdadi base, 142 miles west of Baghdad near Ramadi. The U.S. military confirmed it was a car bomb but gave no other details.

The casualty figures of eight dead and 48 wounded came from a hospital official in nearby Haditha. It wasn't known if there were any U.S. soliders among the killed and wounded.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, has arrested a "senior leader" in the network run by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, along with five others during overnight raids in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, officials said Saturday.

American forces have stepped up operations in Fallujah in a bid to root out al-Zarqawi's terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, which is believed to operate from there. The group has been blamed in numerous suicide bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including recent twin blasts inside Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses the U.S and Iraqi leadership.

The 1:30 a.m. raid in southern Fallujah targeted a site being used as a safe haven by al-Zarqawi's inner circle, according to a military statement.

Intelligence sources said the man captured was previously thought to be a relatively minor member of the terror network. But because so many of al-Zarqawi's associates have been captured or killed, he moved up to take a more important role.

A U.S. Army tank passes by a burning U.S. Army Bradley armoured vehicle next to a junction on the airport highway in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004. A roadside bomb exploded near an American military convoy in Baghdad, injuring six soldiers, the US command said. One US Army armoured vehicle was destroyed and the six men injured when an improvised explosive device, IED, was detonated as the military convoy passed. [AP]

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