Mortars slam into Iraq petrol queue, 11 dead

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Mortar rounds slammed into cars queueing at a Baghdad petrol station on Sunday, killing 11 civilians and wounding more than a dozen in the morning rush hour, security officials and medics said.

One security official said nine mortar rounds rained down on the Iraqis as they sat in the queue in the eastern neighbourhood of Al-Fudaylia at around 8:00 am (0400 GMT). Another official said only two mortars were fired.

In the pandemonium after the attack, another mortar shell crashed into a nearby house, the officials said.

The victims were transferred to at least three city hospitals, where medics at two casualty units confirmed 11 people died and 16 were wounded.

Long queues are frequently seen winding outside petrol stations in Iraq,...