At least 11 Iraqi civilians were killed today when two suicide bombers tried to attack a coalition base where international troops are based, a coalition spokeswoman said.
The attack outside Camp Charlie in Hillah left 58 coalition troops, including Hungarians, Poles and an American wounded, and injured another 44 Iraqis.
Spokeswoman Ms Hilary White said the attack was near several homes at the military camp and and the dead included men, women and children. Troops opened fire on two explosives-laden trucks that tried to plough through the camp, south of Baghdad, triggering the blasts. Guards fired at the vehicles, causing one to explode. Another truck struck a concrete barrier and exploded, damaging a nearby house.
Polish General Mieczyslaw Bieniek called it a "well coordinated terrorist attack." Poland leads a multinational force of about 9,500 soldiers in south-central Iraq.H ungary has 300 troops in Iraq providing logistical support and humanitarian aid.
The attack happened as members of the country's Governing Council continued to challenge the US idea of holding regional caucuses to elect an interim government after the planned June 30th handover.
More than 280 people have been killed in suicide attacks across Iraq since the beginning of the year. Today's attack occurred a week after two suicide vehicle bombings - against an Iraqi police station in Iskandariyah and an army recruiting station in Baghdad - that killed more than 100 people.
In Baghdad, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, a Shiite Arab member of the Governing Council, said today that the idea of using caucuses was "gone with the wind," adding that the only solution palatable to Iraqis were general elections. "Anything else will make things worse and the results will be damaging to Iraq ," he said. "Only elections will give the legitimacy needed for any future political process or body."