31 U.S. Soldiers Hurt in Iraq Blast

A suicide attacker plowed a powerful car bomb into the entrance of a U.S. base in northern Iraq before dawn today, wounding at least 31 soldiers in the second major assault on coalition forces in 10 days.

The blast occurred outside a deployment of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division in the village of Tall Afar, about 30 miles northwest of Mosul, a city that has become the focus of the deadly insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.

A vehicle approached the compound and failed to halt when ordered to do so by U.S. troops guarding the post, drawing fire but continuing on until it exploded, military officials said.

Maj. Hugh Cate III, spokesman for the 101st, said soldiers fired on the vehicle when it failed to stop at an entry point. The vehicle then exploded. It was unclear if the blast was detonated by the driver or caused by the fire directed at the vehicle, said Sgt. Robert Woodward, another spokesman for the division.

None of the 31 injuries was thought to be life-threatening, Woodward said. All the injured were evacuated to the 21st Combat Support Hospital in Mosul for treatment.

“Quite likely the soldiers at the gate prevented a greater tragedy from happening,” Cate said. “A lot of soldiers’ lives were saved today.”

It was unknown whether more than one person was in the vehicle. Authorities said there was no way the driver could have survived the enormous blast.

“It was a fairly big explosion, but it didn’t do any structural damage inside the compound,” Woodward said.

The blast broke windows at the base and caused other minor damage, he said.

The compound houses forces of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, which is based at Ft. Campbell, Ky. The spokesmen declined to say how many of the combat team’s 5,000 troops are based at the compound.

The last major attack on U.S. forces occurred Nov. 30 in Samarra, north of Baghdad, when at least 80 assailants opened fire with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars on U.S. troops escorting two money-exchange convoys. U.S. officials say 54 insurgents were killed in the ensuing battle, while U.S. troops suffered only minor injuries. But residents said only seven or eight people were killed, mostly civilians.

For months, Mosul was a showcase city of postwar recovery and Iraqi-U.S. cooperation. It was the first municipality to seat a local government after the end of major combat. Until last month, there was little violence in the city.

On Nov. 15, two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Mosul, apparently under enemy fire, killing 17. On Monday, a U.S. soldier was slain in the city during a drive-by shooting.

Also Monday, three U.S. soldiers were killed when two Stryker infantry carrier vehicles they were riding in rolled into a canal near Duluiyah, 30 miles north of Baghdad, the Associated Press reported.

Hostile fire was not involved, military officials said.

Today’s car bombing at 4:45 a.m. was another indication that the central terrain of conflict between U.S. forces and insurgents is moving from the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad, north to the Mosul area.

The most recent sightings of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein were purported to have taken place in the Mosul area in August.

On Monday, American soldiers cordoned off a central neighborhood of the city in an apparent attempt to flush out fighters.