At least six children among dead after Baghdad school explosion

At least six children were killed and dozens wounded in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad on Monday when a bomb exploded outside a school as the children were finishing classes.

AFP - Six children were among eight people killed at a Baghdad school in what the Iraqi security forces said was an ammunition blast on Monday, among a total of 16 people killed in and around the capital.

Just north of Baghdad, six anti-Qaeda militiamen were gunned down in broad daylight and the wife of a militia commander was killed when their home was bombed.

Two hospitals in the Baghdad Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City said eight people were killed in the school blast, including six pupils from the Abaa Dhar primary school for boys.

Twenty-five pupils and three teachers were among 41 people wounded.

A police officer confirmed the casualty toll, speaking on condition of anonymity.

An Iraqi security forces spokesman said the cause of the blast was not a bomb but the accidental detonation of a cache of explosives stored within school grounds.

"The explosion happened inside the school while the school principal was burning garbage," said Baghdad operations command spokesman Major General Qassim Atta.

"Underneath the garbage was a cache of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) hidden underground by special groups."

Special groups is the term given by US commanders to Shiite militias they say are armed and trained by Iran.

The 1:10 pm (1010 GMT) explosion, which left a crater around four metres (13 feet) in diameter, struck just outside the main entrance of the school and severely damaged three nearby houses.

"I just went to get my lunch when the explosion happened," said Umm Ali, who lives close to the school and suffered wounds to her arms and face.

"Everything was thrown into the air. I went outside to see what had happened and saw children running in all directions," the 46-year-old said.

North of the capital, in Nadeem village just inside Baghdad province, six members of the Sahwa (Awakening) anti-Qaeda militia were shot dead at a checkpoint in a 9 am (0600 GMT) ambush by gunmen using silencers.

"Five gunmen walked towards the checkpoint and opened fire, killing six Sahwa members," said police Major Thamer Hussein.

In another attack in the nearby town of Tarmiyah, bombers blew up the home of Sahwa commander Abu Mustafa, killing his wife and wounding his son and daughter, both in their teens.

"Abu Mustafa was not in the house when the explosion took place," said police Lieutenant Wisam Badr.

A police officer said the bombers had probably planted the explosives during the night and then detonated them during the day.

The US military began recruiting the Sahwa militias among Sunni Arab tribesmen and former insurgents in 2006, turning the tide in the war against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and leading to a dramatic fall in levels of violence.

Control of the Sahwa passed to Iraqi authorities last October and since January their wages -- said to have been cut from 300 dollars under US leadership to 100 dollars now -- have been paid, often late, by Baghdad.

In the upscale Mansur neighbourhood of the capital, one person was killed and five wounded by a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to a minibus, a police officer said.

 

Date created : 2009-12-07