- BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Around
20 people trying to loot an ammunitions dump in southwestern Iraq were
killed Sunday when the arms exploded, a Polish military official said.
-
- "Attackers entered the bunker and the bunker exploded,
we estimate about 20 people were killed," Lieutenant Colonel Robert
Strzelecki, a spokesman for the multi-national force in southern Iraq,
said.
-
- "They wanted to loot and steal ammunition from the
bunker."
-
- He said no coalition soldiers were injured. The identity
of the looters was not known.
-
- The explosion occurred about 6:30 a.m., 110 miles southwest
of the town of Kerbala.
-
- Huge ammunition stocks built up by Saddam Hussein's forces
are a problem for the U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq. U.S. military
officials have estimated that as much as one million tonnes could be stored
in caches across the country.
-
- There are too many to guard, and top U.S. commanders
say it is possible some of the stocks are being looted and used in attacks
on occupying coalition forces. They estimate it will take up to five years
to make safe or destroy the stocks.
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- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.
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