BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb blast has ripped through an Italian military police base in the Iraqi town of Nassiriya, killing at least 12 Italians in what appears to be a fresh suicide attack on occupying forces.
The explosion occurred as Washington attempted to speed up the process of handing over power to an Iraqi government, although U.S. officials insist this is not an exit strategy.
A spokesman for the carabinieri in Rome said nine of those killed in Nassiriya were military police and three were from the army.
Witnesses said it appeared to be a suicide attack. Several houses around the base were badly damaged and many Iraqi residents injured.
Around 2,300 Italian troops are in southern Iraq, many based in Nassiriya on the banks of the Euphrates river which had been relatively calm since the war. The Italians are part of a British-led multinational force in charge of security in the south of the country.
A reporter for Portuguese state radio RDP in Nassiriya said the blast had devastated the Italian base.
The deaths were the first among non-British members of the southern multinational force in hostile fire. Last week guerrillas shot dead a Polish major in a separate multinational force in central Iraq.
Reacting to the blast, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said Italy would continue its fight against international terrorism with its allies at the United Nations.
Italian Army in Iraq: 12 Killed
Polish, American, Spainish, British in Iraq and the Japanese troops who are preparing to come to iraq. Should realise occupation only brings one response from the occupied!