Bomb blast kills 23 in Nasiriyah

13 November 2003
At least 26 people were killed in a bomb attack on 12 November at a base used by Italian forces in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Reports indicate that at least 15 Italian military personnel, 2 Italian civilians and 9 Iraqis were killed in the blast. According to witnesses, a powerful explosion - caused by a suicide truck bomber - rocked the building at about 1040 local time. Reports indicate that several people were trapped under rubble after the blast. Italy has sent more than 2,000 troops to help the reconstruction efforts in post-war Iraq.

Local police in Baghdad stopped an ambulance in the city and discovered a makeshift bomb weighing 1,000 pounds, said district police commander Hakim Razak Kadim. The occupants of the vehicle fled after police stopped it late on 10 November. The vehicle contained four artillery shells stuffed with plastic explosives, crates of plastic explosives and cylinders packed with other explosives, said an army spokesman.

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