World News Suicide attack wounds 61 in Iraq

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TALAFAR, Iraq (AP) - Suicide bombers, one in a car and another on foot, blew themselves up at the gates of two U.S. military bases Dec. 9, wounding 61 American soldiers but failing to inflict deadly casualties.

Most of the soldiers were only slightly hurt by debris and flying glass, indicating that massive defenses have paid off for troops occupying Iraq.

The decision of the suicide bombers to test U.S. defenses reflected the determination of an enemy to weaken American resolve by inflicting mass casualties in a single attack

A man drove up to the gate of a base of the 101st Airborne Division in Talafar, northwest of Baghdad, at 4:45 a.m. Guards at the gate and in a watchtower opened fire and the vehicle blew up, leaving a large crater at the gate's entryway.

Most soldiers were asleep in their barracks and there was no traffic around the gate. Roadblocks had forced the assailant to drive slowly, giving enough time for guards to fire. A cement wall blunted the blast.

Meanwhile, Iraq's interim government formed a war crimes tribunal to prosecute top members of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime. The tribunal was established Dec. 10 when the U.S. administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, temporarily ceded legislative authority to the Iraqi Governing Council so that it could create the court.

イラク駐留米軍基地で自爆テロ

イラクの駐留米軍基地で9日、検問所に突っ込んできた車が爆発し、近くにいた米兵61人が負傷した。死者は出なかった。

Shukan ST: Dec. 19, 2003

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