Bomb attack injures 31 US troops

[ShotOver]

AP - Thirty-one US soldiers were injured early Tuesday in a car bomb attack on their barracks near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The US military confirmed the attack, saying the soldiers' injuries were mostly caused by flying debris, and were not life threatening.

The attack happened about 5am, local time, when a car drove to the entrance of the base used by the 3rd Brigade of 101 Airborne division in the town of Talafar, 50km west of Mosul.

Spokesman Major Trey Cate said guards opened fire on the vehicle and it blew up.

A total of 31 soldiers were wounded, mostly by debris and flying glass.



"Whether it was a suicide attack or not, I don't know," Cate said.



©AAP 2003

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/World/story_52253.asp



Hope they are alrite :|

[wholagun]

Thats alot of troops to get injured by a single car attack. I don't undrestand how so many can be injured by a one car bomb unless they were all in the same area at the same time. That leads me to another question, what exactly is an injury (a cut, one troop requiring stiches?). What qualifies as an injury? (how small or big does it have to be)

[ShotOver]

If you read it, it says they were in thier barracks, and the car drove up near the barracks and blew up.

[wholagun]

Sorry I am not in the army :oops: , by barracks I think of whole base, or is it just one building. I have heard barracks in reference to an entire base where they sleep and eat, but also as one building. Sorry for my ingnorance but I have hearded both so Im not sure which it is. :oops:

[ShotOver]

No worries mate, i would think this means 1 building the car was parked next to, then blew up.. causing a hole in the wall of the barracks and sending debris flying and hurting...31 people.

[wholagun]

No worries mate, i would think this means 1 building the car was parked next to, then blew up.. causing a hole in the wall of the barracks and sending debris flying and hurting...31 people.

Oh ok I understand now. The reason for my confusion is that my friend went to the Canadian forces and he called the entire base barracks. I guess this indicent is somthing simular to the incident in Beirut, where the whole buildings came down ( I have a mental image in my head of the picture Iv seen on tv but its hard to explain, sorry)

[ShotOver]

You never know mate, the "barracks" they are taking about could be a 6 building compund.

Car/trucks drives in, blows up... damages several buildings and injures occupants and some bystanders.

[Seraphim]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031209/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716


Suicide Bomber Wounds 41 Troops in Iraq

TALAFAR, Iraq - A suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives at the gates of a military barracks on Tuesday, injuring 41 American troops and six Iraqi civilians. Hours earlier, three soldiers died in a road accident in central Iraq (news - web sites), and three civilians died when a Baghdad mosque was rocketed.

[Seraphim]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/870749.asp?vts=120920030534


THE ATTACK AT the army base occurred at 4:45 a.m. local time (8:45 p.m. ET) when a car drove to the gate of the base in the town of Talafar, 30 miles west of the northern city of Mosul.
Guards at the gate and in a watchtower opened fire on the vehicle and moments later it blew up. The bomb left a large crater at the gate’s entryway.
Col. Michael Linnington, commander of the 3rd Brigade which controls the area west of Mosul and all the way to the Syrian border, said the attack was a suicide mission and that the attacker’s remains were “all over the compound.”
“Right now we have four soldiers that were evacuated and are being treated for blast injuries. In addition, 37 soldiers have nicks, cuts, bruises and some broken bones,” he said. A base translator also was injured in the blast, which damaged nearby homes.