BAGHDAD - Three Iraqis were killed when munitions exploded at a depot in the southern city of Diwaniyah, US Central Command said Tuesday, highlighting the dangers of the sea of ordnance which washed over Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's armed forces. Two Iraqis were also wounded in Monday's blast but there were no US or British casualties, Centcom said.
| "Mahmoud! This is an ammunition dump! Don't light [KABOOM!] that..." |
Later Monday, a series of explosions ripped through another ammunitions depot in the central Shiite Muslim pilgrimage city of Karbala. No casualties were reported but US forces established a four-kilometre buffer zone around the dump to protect residents. Centcom said the Diwaniyah blast was in an Iraqi depot but the Karbala blasts were in a US one. It said the multiple explosions at the American depot were not believed to be the result of hostile action but added that investigations were under way into both incidents.
"Alright, Bob. What happened?"
"I dunno, sir. I wuz just lightin' up a smoke..." |
US commanders have repeatedly warned of the dangers of the huge arsenals of military materiel that Saddam's forces, both regular and irregular, stashed in clandestine dumps in towns and cities across Iraq. |