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A suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives outside an American military base in northern Iraq yesterday, injuring more than 40 US troops and six Iraqi civilians. A few hours later, a second bomber killed himself and injured two soldiers in an attack in a town 15 miles outside Baghdad.
The first attack happened at about 4.45am in the town of Talafar, 235 miles north-west of Baghdad, when a car drove to the gates of the base. Guards at the gate and in a watchtower reportedly opened fire and moments later the vehicle exploded, leaving a large crater in front of the gate.
Colonel Michael Linnington, the commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, said the car bomb was a suicide mission and that the attacker's remains were "all over the compound". He added: "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."
An Iraqi translator was also injured in the blast, which damaged nearby homes. Several other civilians, including a two-year-old girl, were hurt by flying glass. The US garrison apparently escaped more serious casualties because of the huge sand barriers erected around the base, and because most troops were still in their barracks. There was no traffic in the vicinity.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=471756