Suicide car bomb kills 26 at Iraq children's hospital
Pastor Dale Morgan
Suicide car bomb kills 26 at Iraq children's hospital*
HILLA, Iraq (AFP) - - A suicide car bomb exploded across the street from
a children's hospital in the Iraqi city of Hilla on Tuesday, killing at
least 26 people and wounding 69, police and medical officials said.
"Most of the wounded were women and children, and the blast destroyed 15
vehicles and about 20 nearby shops," said Lieutenant Eid al-Shammari of
the local police.
Doctor Mohammed Dhia, head surgeon at the Hilla hospital confirmed the
casualties, adding that 25 of those wounded had serious injuries,
including severe burns.
Medical officials earlier confirmed that bodies had been evacuated to
two hospitals in the area.
The bombing in a mostly Shiite town came hours before the US ambassador
to Iraq and his Iranian counterpart met in a second round of
face-to-face talks aimed at controlling Iraq's spiralling violence.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombing, but in the past
such attacks have been blamed on Sunni insurgent groups such as Al-Qaeda
in Iraq, which is trying to overthrow Iraq's US-backed government and
foment unrest.