Blast In Baquba Kills At Least 5

Juan Cole 06/08/2004

Blast in Baquba Kills at least 5, Wounds 11;

US troops among the wounded

A suspected car bomb detonated at the gates of a US military base near the eastern city of Baquba early Tuesday. It killed one US soldier and four Iraqis, wounded at least 11, and also inflicted wounds on some US troops.

The Arabic press is reporting a string of recent assassinations, including a member of the Sunni Board of Muslim Clerics on Saturday (Shaikh Khalil al-Mashhadani), an ex-Baath official in Kirkuk, and a leader of the Badr Corps paramilitary of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Shahir Faisal Shahir) in Baghdad. The string of assassinations has contributed to a sense of insecurity and uncertainty in Iraq.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page