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41 Iraqis Killed in New Violence

By THOMAS WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
Posted May 16 2007, 8:09 AM EDT

BAGHDAD -- A parked car bomb exploded near a market in a Shiite enclave northeast of the capital, killing at least 32 people and wounding 50, police said Wednesday. Hospital officials and wounded victims said chlorine gas may have been used in the attack, but police denied that.

Thousands of U.S. forces continued to search for three American soldiers feared captured by al-Qaida last week after an attack on their convoy south of Baghdad also killed four U.S. troops and an Iraqi soldier.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out in the mostly Shiite city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq on Wednesday, when a militia fought with police there after they arrested two wanted militia members, police said. Nine Iraqis were killed and 75 wounded, a police spokesman said.

A U.S. government report released Tuesday showed that the recent U.S. troop increase and security crackdown has had little effect on the high number of attacks in the country.

The average number of attacks rose from 71 a day in January 2006 to a high of 176 per day in October, according to the report from the Government Accountability Office. In February, when the troop increase began to take effect, daily attacks dropped slightly to 164. Daily attacks averaged 157 in March and 149 in April, the report said.

The report, which cited the U.S.-led forces in Iraq for the figures, did not measure the numbers killed and wounded in the attacks.

Military officials have said that since the security crackdown in the Baghdad region began more than 12 weeks ago, Sunni insurgents have hit back with powerful, and extremely deadly, car bombs that often cause more casualties than the types of attacks used previously.

The car bomb attack occurred about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in the village of Abu Saydah in the volatile Diyala province, local police said, giving the casualty toll. The wounded were taken to hospitals in nearby Muqdadiyah and the main Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad.

Hospital officials and victims said it appeared chlorine gas was used in the attack as many of the wounded were having difficulty breathing and had their sight affected. But officials at the provincial police's joint coordination center denied that toxic gas was involved.

One man had a white cloth across his eyes as he lay in his hospital bed; others were bandaged from head to toe.

Abu Saydah is a mainly Shiite village about 25 miles northeast of the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Baqouba, the capital of the province that has seen a recent spike in violence largely blamed on militants who fled Baghdad ahead of a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.

Kadim Hussein, a 45-year-old farmer who was taken to the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City, claimed the hospitals in Baqouba would only accept Sunnis.

"My eyes became puffy due the chlorine gas that was packed in the car bomb," he said, adding he also had difficulties breathing. "Also I had many pieces of shrapnel in my chest and right shoulder."

A hospital official said the facility had received three bodies and 11 of those wounded who all showed symptoms of chlorine poisoning. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Diyala province -- with its mixed Shiite and Sunni Muslim population -- has been the scene of frequent violence of a sectarian nature as well as attacks by anti-U.S. insurgents.

The clashes between the Mahdi Army followers and police began about 2 a.m. in the city center. Both sides were still on the streets by sunrise, and Nasiriyah's shops remained closed, said a police spokesman in Dhi Qar, the province where Nasiriyah is located.

He said six civilians, two Mahdi Army commandos and one policeman were killed and 75 Iraqis were wounded in the fighting in Nasiriyah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concern for his own safety, said the fighting began after the two militia members were arrested for allegedly firing mortar rounds in the area, and their comrades threatened to attack police if the suspects weren't released.

Fighting often erupts between supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and members of the rival Shiite Fadhila in mostly Shiite southern Iraq.

On Tuesday, U.S. aircraft dropped leaflets in a thinly populated farming area 20 miles south of Baghdad, seeking information about the three U.S. soldiers believed to be held by al-Qaida. The terror group has warned that the hunt will endanger the captives' lives.

"The captors don't have freedom of movement," said U.S. Army Maj. Kenny Mintz. "If they have the soldiers, they can't move them from where they are. We're doing a deliberate search of the areas."

On Monday, an al-Qaida front group -- the Islamic State of Iraq -- warned the Americans in a Web statement to call off the hunt "if you want their safety."

The U.S. command said Tuesday that American soldiers have questioned more than 450 people and detained at least 11 since the search on Saturday.

A later statement said aircraft had dropped leaflets asking for help in locating the soldiers. Trucks with loudspeakers were roaming the area urging people to come forward with any information. No details of the leaflets or their precise message were released.