Car Bombing at Italian Base in Iraq Reportedly Kills Up to 26:
"A gasoline truck crashed through a fence around an Italian military police compound in Nasiriya, Iraq, today, followed by a car that blew up, leaving at least 17 Italians dead, including 2 civilians, a British military spokesman in Basra said today.

Twenty-one Italians were wounded and 12 Iraqis were missing or wounded, the spokesman said by telephone.

A witness to the blast said from a hospital that only one, not two, vehicles were involved. He said he was in sight of the compound gate at the time and believed that someone in the Russian-made truck opened fire at guards and then set off the blast.

Nine Iraqis were reported killed. "

In addition to the 2 civilians, Italian fatalities consisted of 11 military police officers and 4 soldiers, the Italian defense minister, Antonio Martino, said in Parliament in Rome. Mr. Martino put the number of Iraqi wounded at 25.

Tonight reporters were kept some 500 yards from the compound, but it was possible to see that the building had been largely destroyed. A great deal of rubble was visible as well as the remains of the attack vehicle.

When the Americans took Nasiriya after a tough battle on their drive north to Baghdad, the building, housing the Chamber of Commerce, was used by the Marine Corps as its headquarters.

Later the building, in a middle-class area, was handed over to the Italians and Romanians.

Under the Americans, who were welcome by the local people, security was extremely tight, with even traffic rules being enforced, residents said today.

The Italians were also welcomed and liked, for such acts as handing out candy to children, but they were widely criticized by the same people for being too relaxed in security, both for themselves at the compound and in the city itself.

Checkpoints erected by the marines were taken down, and approaches to the compound were opened, residents said.

Tonight Italian military police and Romanian forces in armored vehicles were trying to clear the area beyond security barriers for fear there would be other attacks.

Security was extremely jumpy. One Iraqi guard who fired off two shots, apparently by mistake, had his weapon taken away.

The force of the blast was felt up to 1,000 yards away, bringing down wrought-iron gates on houses and buckling other buildings. Wooden doors of other buildings were blown out, ceilings came down, and crockery was thrown around kitchens.

The overwhelming reaction of people in Nasiriya has been against the attack.…

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/international/middleeast/12CND-IRAQ.html?pagewanted=all&position=