Death Toll In Baghdad Attack Rises To 18

(NewsCore) - At least 18 people, including five suicide bombers and one other assailant, were killed, and 36 others were wounded Sunday in what officials here called a sophisticated attack against Iraqi army facilities in central Baghdad, just days after the U.S. ended its combat mission.

Underscoring the dangers still facing American soldiers here, a U.S. military spokesman said U.S. soldiers "working and living" at the Iraqi military facility as advisers helped repel the attack, but that no Americans were hurt.

The late-morning attack occurred in Maidan Square, where a suicide bomber blew himself up last month among crowds of young men lined up for an army recruitment drive. That attack killed nearly 50. The Islamic State of Iraq, a group linked to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility.

In Sunday's attack, a "group consisting of five terrorists wearing suicide vests and on board an explosives-rigged Kia bus approached the back door of the old Ministry of Defense building," according to a statement by the Baghdad Operations Command, the government task force in charge of security in the capital.

The building serves as the headquarters of the 43rd Brigade of the Iraqi army's 11th Division, and includes Iraqi military and security installations, such as the command center for Baghdad's east side.

Soldiers staffing a checkpoint off the square shot and killed a suicide bomber who tried to approach them. They then killed two others inside the vehicle, including the driver, before the bus exploded, the statement said.

Two suicide bombers managed to flee to an empty building nearby. The building was surrounded by Iraqi soldiers who fired at the bombers before "they were blown up" inside the building, the statement added. It wasn't clear from the statement what caused the explosion.

The official version of events couldn't be immediately verified from other government sources. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said he had orders not to discuss the attack with Western media outlets.

Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad, said in a brief statement sent by email that U.S. soldiers provided "suppressive fire" while Iraqi soldiers entered the building where the "two terrorists" had fled. U.S. helicopters and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) provided surveillance during the gun battle with the attackers.

U.S. explosives experts arrived later at the scene to help gather evidence, according to Col. Bloom.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility from the Islamic State of Iraq or any other group.

The attack comes just four days after the U.S. military marked the official end of its combat mission in Iraq and the start of a new phase for the American presence here. American troop strength is now estimated at about 50,000 soldiers.

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