Blast kills 2 near US compound in Iraq's Basra
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-12 10:48

A car bomb exploded near the US embassy office in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Saturday, killing two people and wounding three, but no Americans were injured, officials and witnesses said.

"There was a blast outside the compound. There were no injuries involving US citizens or personnel at the compound," a spokesman at the US embassy in Baghdad told Reuters.

A Reuters witness saw two bodies burning inside a vehicle that was destroyed by the blast, some 50 meters (yards) from the US compound. Those wounded were passers-by, the witness said. The blast set other vehicles on fire, he said.

A spokeswoman for the British forces deployed in Basra said the blast was caused by a car bomb. The compound also houses offices attached to British diplomatic offices.

The key oil city of Basra has witnessed frequent clashes between insurgents and US-led forces. There have been numerous car bomb and roadside bomb blasts in the city over the past 17 months.

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