Suicide truck bomber kills 18 near Baghdad college

By Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber driving a small truck rigged with explosives blew up near a Baghdad college on Tuesday, killing 18 people in an attack that came just a day after bomb blasts ripped apart two crowded city markets.

The attacks came despite a new crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces aimed at clamping down on the daily bombings and shootings that have made the city one of the most dangerous places in the world. The operation is in its opening phase.

An Iraqi soldier stands guard at the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad February 13, 2007. A suicide bomber driving a small truck rigged with explosives blew up near a Baghdad college on Tuesday, killing 18 people in an attack that came just a day after bomb blasts ripped apart two crowded city markets. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani)

Police said the bomber detonated in a parking lot between the College of Economic Sciences, a private university in western Baghdad's residential Iskan district, and a large foodstuff warehouse belonging to the Trade Ministry.

The blast in the mainly Shi'ite area set cars ablaze and destroyed a nearby home. Police said some members of the family were among the dead, but a witness said only one girl died.

The attack, which also wounded 40 people, followed devastating bombings at two markets on Monday that killed at least 77 people and maimed scores.

U.S. military officials say the Baghdad crackdown is in its early stages and that "fully-fledged" sweeps of neighbourhoods to hunt for militants and illegal weapons have not yet begun.

President George W. Bush has said he is sending more than 17,000 more troops to Baghdad for the push, which is seen as a last chance to avert all-out civil war between the country's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis.

Previous attempts to halt bombings and death squad killings in the capital have failed.

NEW RESOLUTION

Critics say it is too little, too late, and war-weary Iraqis, exhausted by four years of war, question whether it can end the conflict between the country's now deeply divided Islamic sects. Bush is also facing criticism at home from Americans who oppose sending more troops.

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats presented a resolution on Monday opposing a troop buildup in Iraq, setting up a confrontation this week over Bush's retooled war strategy.

Polls show most Americans oppose his troop boost plan. Discontent with the Iraq war played a major part in the Democrats' takeover of Congress in November elections.

Monday's blasts punctuated a speech by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki commemorating the bombing of the Samarra mosque in February 2006, which triggered the current wave of sectarian violence that has now killed tens of thousands.

Standing on the steps outside his office, he said Iraq had no future unless the new security plan succeeded. He appeared to pause momentarily as the first of the blasts echoed through central Baghdad, followed minutes later by a second.

In the deadliest attack, simultaneous blasts ripped through Shorja market, Baghdad's oldest, killing 71 people, destroying vendor stalls, setting ablaze an eight-storey warehouse, and sending a huge cloud of thick black smoke into the sky.

The blasts, which echoed across Baghdad, reduced stalls to mangled wrecks in the debris-strewn street.

Militants frequently use car bombs to attack markets, the lifeblood of the city, because they are poorly guarded and the large crowds of shoppers make for attractive targets.

U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver said he was not aware of any specific measures to boost protection for the markets under the new Baghdad security plan.

But the increase in market bombings since the start of the year meant the issue may have to be studied more closely "as part of our intelligence and planning preparations", he added.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell in Washington)