Suicide bombers killed 68 people, among them 17 children incinerated in two minibuses on their way to school, in strikes on police stations in Basra today.Basra Mayor Wael Abdul-Hafeez accused Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda of being behind the blasts. Near-simultaneous vehicle explosions hit three police stations in Basra and a police academy in Zubair.‘‘All four attacks seem to have been carried out by suicide bombers,’’ said a British Defence Ministry spokeswoman in Basra. The Mayor said that 68 people, not counting the bombers, were killed and 99 wounded. British officials said about 10 policemen were among the dead.Two minibuses were caught in the blast at Basra’s Al-Saudia police station. Ali Abdul-Sadiq, a hospital official, said nine schoolgirls and their driver were killed in one vehicle. Eight kindergarten children were killed in the other.The blasts sowed panic across the city which has been fairly peaceful during the US-led occupation. Basra’s Mayor said police had recovered the remains of a bearded bomber. ‘‘I accuse Al Qaeda,’’ he said.A British military spokesman said three vehicles had exploded at Basra police stations at about 7:15 am. The Zubair blast killed three Iraqis and wounded four British soldiers, two seriously. Meanwhile, Denmark said a Danish businessman reported missing on April 11 had been found dead the next day. Danish media had identified him as Henrik Frandsen, 35, and said he was kidnapped on a highway North of Baghdad.In Falluja, fighting violated a fragile truce hours after US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested the ceasefire in the city would not last. Six civilians were killed and 10 wounded in clashes between Marines and rebels, residents said. US snipers pumped round after round into buildings. Black Hawk helicopters blasted unseen targets with machinegun and cannon fire. An F-16 jet flew overhead and a huge dust cloud rose in the air, possibly after a heavy bomb. ‘‘Thugs and assassins and former Saddam henchmen will not be allowed to carve out portions of that city and to oppose peace and freedom,’’ Rumsfeld said on Tuesday. Dozens of families who had fled earlier fighting queued on the edge of Falluja on Wednesday waiting to be allowed home. — (Reuters)
