A huge cloud of smoke bellows over central Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday June 2 2004.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Several explosions were heard Tuesday in central Baghdad, and smoke was seen rising from the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which is located just outside the green zone headquarters of the U.S.-run coalition.
The Arab language television stations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya quoted police sources as saying about 10 people were killed. But the information could not immediately be confirmed. Ambulances raced to the scene and U.S. troops kept people back. Television footage showed debris and a charred wall of a building.
Coalition authorities had no immediate information on the explosions.
The first blasts were heard just after reports circulated that Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, current head of the Iraqi Governing Council, had been selected as president of the interim government set to take power June 30.
Another blast, followed by gunfire, was heard about an hour later, sending a mushroom cloud 30 metres billowing into the dusty air hanging over the city. Coalition aircraft could be heard flying over Baghdad.
After hearing several busts of gunfire, about 10 U.S. soldiers rushed outside the convention centre, heading to the area near the al-Rasheed hotel.
The blast near the PUK offices was heard shortly afterward.
CBC News.
