American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2004 -- A vehicle-borne explosive device detonated on a busy city street at about 11 a.m. today, killing 10 Iraqi bystanders in the southern portion of Baghdad, according to a Multinational Force Iraq news release.

The car bomb targeted an Iraqi police patrol, but inflicted more damage on Iraqi citizens. Four Iraqi policemen were wounded in the attack, but four Iraqi laborers working in a nearby palm grove and a family of four traveling on the road were killed in the blast. Two other bystanders also died in this attack.

A Task Force Baghdad explosive-ordnance-disposal unit found an 18-by-12-foot crater nearly five feet deep left from the explosion. EOD experts estimate the vehicle was loaded with nearly 300 pounds of bulk explosives.

The attack came as the largely Muslim Iraqi populace prepares to observe the holy month of Ramadan.

A Task Force Baghdad spokesman condemned the attack. "This is an act of terrorists," said Lt. Col. James Hutton, a spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division. "These attacks kill innocent Iraqi people trying to live their lives in peace."