Suicide car bomber kills at least 17 in Iraq

A member of the civil defence (C) and policemen inspect the site of a bomb attack in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad May 5, 2011. At least 16 people were killed and 41 wounded on Thursday when a car bomb exploded in Iraq's southern city of Hilla, medical and police sources said, as security forces braced for likely attacks by al Qaeda. A suicide bomber rammed his car into the entrance of a police quarters based in the centre of the mainly Shi'ite city of Hilla during a shift change when many police officers were outside the building, the sources said.

HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) - A car bomber killed at least 17 people and wounded 65 Thursday at a police building in the mainly Shi'ite city of Hilla, an official said, as Iraq braced for revenge attacks after U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden.

Iraq's army and police have been on high alert since American forces shot dead the al Qaeda leader and security officials said they had received intelligence that the Sunni Islamist group's Iraqi wing would carry out revenge attacks.

The suicide bomber rammed his car into the entrance of a police headquarters in the center of Hilla during a shift change at around 6:40 am (0340 GMT), when many police officers were outside the building.

"It was a suicide car bomb at one of the police headquarters early this morning. So far, 17 people were killed and 65 wounded. But this is not final as there are many wounded in critical condition," Babil province Deputy Governor Sadeq al-Muhanna told Reuters.

"Although it is too early to pin the responsibility on one party, suicide explosions are mostly done by al Qaeda and we expect (al Qaeda) is behind this explosion. We said before and we say it again, al Qaeda will not be finished by the killing of its leader," he said.

A police official in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, said 16 people were dead and 41 wounded. A hospital source in Hilla said 21 had been killed and at least 80 wounded.

Iraqi officials often give conflicting tolls.

Iraq has been a major battlefield for al Qaeda since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Dozens of bombings and other attacks are still mounted each month, although U.S. and Iraqi officials say al Qaeda in Iraq has been severely degraded in recent years.

"These events happen on a daily basis in Iraq and nothing could prove that it has anything to do with the killing of bin Laden. These are routine events in Iraq. Security breaches, we are used to them," an Interior Ministry source said.

U.S. WITHDRAWAL

Attacks on the army and police are rising ahead of a full withdrawal of U.S. troops by December 31, more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Blast walls in front of the police quarters in Hilla had collapsed and the building was badly damaged, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. Most of the dead and wounded were police.

Other buildings on the main road, including shops and houses, were also damaged.

"The negligence comes from Baghdad because we're always asking them to increase the number of our policemen, but there is no response," Kadhim Majeed Tuman, the head of the Babil provincial council, told Reuters.

Dr Amer Ajerash, head of Hilla's main hospital, said it had issued 16 death certificates so far. Another hospital source said conditions in the hospital were miserable.

"There are a lot of wounded and martyrs," the source said.

Last month, gunmen laid siege to a provincial council headquarters in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. Fifty-eight people were killed and at least 98 wounded.

Monday four people were wounded when a bomb attached to a car exploded in Hilla.

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim, Aseel Kami and Muhanad Mohammed in Baghdad; writing by Serena Chaudhry and Jim Loney; editing by David Stamp)