At least 350 Iraqi civilians needed hospital treatment after insurgents detonated three trucks filled with toxic chlorine gas, killing two policemen, the US military said on Saturday. Meanwhile the Prime Ministers of Iraq and Australia, at a press conference in Baghdad on Saturday, refused to give any timetable for the withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq.
Friday's gas attack was the seventh this year in which insurgents have used chemical gas bombs on civilians and security forces, in what appears to be a new tactic for al Qaeda militants.
The attacks were carried out between 4:11 pm (1311 GMT) and 7:13 pm on Friday, two of them just south of the town of Fallujah and one north-east of the nearby city of Ramadi, both hotbeds of al Qaeda militants in the Anbar province. "Approximately 350 Iraqi civilians and six coalition force members were treated for chlorine gas exposure," said Lieutenant Roger Hollenbeck of the US-led Multinational Division West, based in Ramadi.
Iraqi state television reported that at least six people were killed in the blasts, but the US military could initially only confirm the deaths of two Iraqi policemen in the second explosion, in Ameriyah, outside Fallujah.
"Coalition forces confirmed that the Ameriyah citizens exposed to the chlorine were treated locally for symptoms ranging from minor skin and lung irritation to vomiting," Hollenbeck said in a statement. In each attack a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives and gas canisters near police and civilian targets. Iraqi Interior Ministry Operations Director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf confirmed the bombings and suggested they may have been carried out in revenge for recent government successes against insurgents in Ramadi.
The attacks brought the number of such bombings since January 28 in western Iraq's Anbar province - the heartland of the insurgency - to five. Two similar dirty bomb blasts have been reported in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi and US forces have launched a large-scale operation in and around Baghdad to try to root out insurgents and quell sectarian violence.
Sunni tribes from Anbar have united in a coalition to oppose al Qaeda, sending thousands of young men to join the government security forces and co-operating with US and Iraqi commanders. In response, the insurgents have modified their tactics, adding gas bombs to their arsenal and striking soft targets in the belt of small towns around the capital that are at present beyond the reach of the security plan.
The Australian and Iraqi premiers, meanwhile, vowed to fight "terrorists" in Iraq and refused to give a timetable for withdrawal of Australian forces. "I do not want to put a timeline" on Australian troop withdrawal, Maliki said in a news conference with his counterpart whose unannounced visit to Baghdad was his third trip to the war-ravaged country.
"There has been some progress but we still wish the Australians to remain until we have completely defeated the terrorists," Maliki said. Howard - along with Britain's Tony Blair - is one of US President George W. Bush's strongest allies and shared Maliki's view, saying: "We have made progress but there is still work to be done."
"I told the prime minister that Australia will continue its presence in Iraq to assist in bringing about a situation where the Iraqi people are reasonably able to provide for their own future and for their own security," Howard said. "We both agreed that the future lies in collaboration between improved security and reconciliation in the political process."
Howard also met some of the 1,450 Australian troops serving in Iraq near Baghdad airport shortly after his arrival and before holding talks with Maliki. "We had very effective and detailed talks today on developments in the political process and the achievements of the Baghdad conference. We fully appreciate the Australian support in the fight against terrorism," Maliki said.
The bulk of Australian troops are stationed in southern Iraq along with the British forces. On Saturday, insurgents killed eight Iraqis in conventional blasts and shootings.
A suicide bomber rammed his car against a joint Iraqi military and police patrol in Baghdad's western Harathiya district, killing a policeman and civilian. Five other people were wounded in the attack. Gunmen also killed three civilians in Khan beni Sad village, north of Baghdad, police said. Elsewhere three more people were killed.
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