July 13, 2005

Suicide Bomber Targets Iraqi Kids

Up To 27 Killed By Blast Near Troops Handing Out Candy And Toys

  • Play CBS Video Video Child Coffins In Baghdad

    After a suicide bomber targeted a U.S. patrol swarming with children, Kimberly Dozier reports it may have been a message that militants will strike anyone -- even a child -- who mixes with the enemy.

  • Video Young Victim Of Iraqi Bomb

    CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier gives a personal account of a recent car bombing in Iraq that claimed the lives of nearby children.

    • A young victim on the operating table following the bombing. Photo

      A young victim on the operating table following the bombing.  (CBS)

    • Injured woman with baby following car bomb blast in Baghdad video still. Photo

      Injured woman with baby following car bomb blast in Baghdad video still.  (AP /APTN)

    • Iraqis inspect the damage after the blast. Photo

      Iraqis inspect the damage after the blast.  (AP /APTN)

    Previous slide Next slide
  • Interactive Battle For Iraq

    The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.

  • Interactive American Heroes

    Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.

  • Interactive Attacks Map

    Details on the insurgency and terrorism that has continued to take lives since the fall of Saddam.

(CBS/AP)  A suicide car bomb exploded next to U.S. troops handing out candy and toys, killing 18 children and teenagers Wednesday. Parents heard the shattering explosion and raced out to the discover the worst — children's mangled, bloodied bodies strewn on the street.

Up to 27 people were killed by the blast in the Shiite Muslim neighborhood, including an American soldier. At least 70 people were injured, a newborn and three U.S. soldiers among them.

Children's slippers lay piled near the blast crater not far from a crumbled child's bicycle as blood pooled in the street.

Twelve of the dead were 13 or younger and six were between 14 and 17, said police Lt. Mohammed Jassim Jabr. Among the wounded was 4-day-old Miriam Jabber, cut slightly by flying glass and debris.

“There were some American troops blocking the highway when a U.S. Humvee came near a gathering of children,” said Karim Shukir, 42. The troops began handing out candy and smiley-face key chains.

“Suddenly, a speeding car bomb...struck both the Humvee and the children,” Shukir said.

In other developments:

  • Coalition forces in Baghdad have captured Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's top lieutenant in Baghdad, Abu Abd al-Aziz, Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

  • Gunmen killed an Iraqi soldier Wednesday while he was driving his car in western Baghdad, police said.

  • The Egyptian government has vowed to avenge the apparent slaying of its top envoy in Iraq as it tries to fend off sharp criticism at home and accusations it didn't do enough to save the diplomat who was killed by al Qaeda-linked militants. Egypt's top pro-government newspapers Tuesday carried banner headlines quoting President Hosni Mubarak saying, "Egypt does not forget its sons," and promising to take care of the family of Ihab al-Sherif. They showed prominent photos of the foreign minister shaking hands with al-Sherif's wife, wearing a white veil and black dress.

    The slaughter of so many Shiite children is likely to raise tensions further between the majority Shiites — who dominate the government — and the minority Sunni Arabs, the foundation of the insurgency.

    For a time, Iraqi parents kept their children away from American troops. But, as CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports, lately, it seemed the kids had come back. The troops took that as a positive sign that the community was starting to trust them.

    As Dozier reports, that may be exactly why the patrol was hit: a brutal, bloody message that militants will strike anyone, even a child, who mixes with the enemy.

    At Kindi hospital, where many victims were taken, a distraught mother swathed in black sat cross-legged outside the operating room. “May God curse the mujahedeen and their leader,” she cried, referring to the insurgents as she pounded her head with her fists in grief.

    “The car bomber made a deliberate decision to attack one of our vehicles as the soldiers were engaged in a peaceful operation with Iraqi citizens,” said Maj. Russ Goemaere, a Task Force Baghdad spokesman.

    “The terrorist undoubtedly saw the children,” Goemaere said, calling the attack “absolutely abhorrent.”

    After the bombing, charred remains of an engine block wrapped in barbed wire sat on the road. U.S. and Iraqi troops broadcast messages by loudspeakers in Arabic, warning civilians not to approach military vehicles.

    Continued



    © MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Video and Galleries from Iraq After Saddam

    • MOST POPULAR
    • Viewed
    • Commented
    Latest News
    Featured Blogs