NEWS MIDDLE EAST Scores killed in Iraq chlorine bomb Chlorine bomb attacks have become more
common across Iraq in recent months [AFP] Iraqi police say 32 people have been killed in Iraq's Diyala by a truck bomb carrying cylinders of toxic chlorine gas. Officials said on Wednesday that the blast occurred at about 7.45pm [1745 GMT] on Tuesday in the mainly Shia village of Abu Saydah , about 40km northeast of the predominantly Sunni town of Baquba . Captain Sadiq Mohammed said: "A small van with gas canisters exploded in a crowded market, there were many people dead at the scene." Other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 32 people died, with 65 injured. The US command in northern Iraq said it was investigating the incident but has not yet confirmed that chlorine gas was used in the bomb. Brigadier-General Abd al-Karim Khalaf, Iraq' s interior ministry operations director, said there had been an explosion followed by two mortar attacks on Abu Saydah. He did not give an official toll. Poisoning symptoms Most of the wounded were treated at hospitals in nearby Muqdadiya and Baghdad' s Sadr City , the main Shia district of the capital. Your Views "Let the people of Iraq vote if they want the US to stay or leave" Bob Kaye, Bohemia, US Send us your views Kadim Hussein, a 45-year-old farmer who was taken to the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City , said the hospitals in Baquba would accept only Sunnis. "My eyes became puffy due the chlorine gas that was packed in the car bomb... Also I had many pieces of shrapnel in my chest and right shoulder," he said. Hussein said he found breathing difficult, suggesting exposure to poisonous gas. A official at Imam Ali hospital said 11 of those treated at the facility showed symptoms of chlorine poisoning. Chlorine bomb attacks have become increasingly common across Iraq in recent months. Overnight battle In a separate development, the Mahdi Army forces of Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shia cleric, battled Iraqi security forces in the southern city of Nasiriyah overnight, with 12 people reported dead. Lieutenant Colonel Jawad Abdel Kadhim, head of the city's anti-terrorist police, was among those killed in the fighting, police and medical sources said on Wednesday. "The clashes have killed two Iraqi soldiers and nine civilians," said Hadi Badr, Nasiriyah's public health chief. Badr said 91 people had been wounded. The clashes were sparked on Tuesday night when local police refused to release two fighters, earlier arrested on suspicion of using bombs and mortars against US-led and Iraqi forces, said security officials. A ceasefire was agreed on Wednesday after local officials held emergency talks with representatives of the Mahdi Army. "Everyone now agrees only government forces should carry guns on the street," said Sheikh Sabri Al-Remaidh, a former governor. "Mahdi Army fighters have withdrawn and security has been restored." Also on Wednesday, at least nine mortar rounds or rockets landed in Baghdad' s US-controlled Green Zone, killing two Iraqis. Eight people were also wounded in the attacks, said Lou Fintor, US embassy spokesman. Source: Agencies
Map highlighting the location of the Diyala Province.Insurgents in Iraq have used a chemical car bomb to kill at least 32 people and injuring at least 50 in the Diyala Province, in the village of Abu Saydah on Tuesday. Reports say that the vehicle used in the attack was parked at a market near two tea stalls.

"A small van with gas canisters exploded in a crowded market, there were many people dead at the scene," said Iraqi police officer, Captain Sadiq Mohammed.

According to police, the bomb was described as being filled with chlorine gas and injuries reported at the local hospital include burns from a "poisonous gas," but the United States military in Iraq denies those reports.
 
"Our folks on the scene... who are investigating this do not have any of those indications," said a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, Lt-Col Michael Donnelly.

One of the injured, Kadim Hussein, who was taken to the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City for treatment, complained of eye irritation. "My eyes became puffy due the chlorine gas that was packed in the car bomb...also I had many pieces of shrapnel in my chest and right shoulder," he said. 

Hospitals in Muqdadiyah and Sadr City received most of the victims of the bomb blast.  Doctors and authorities at the Imam Ali hospital reported that 11 of the patients they treated were presented with symptoms typical of chlorine poisoning and that many of the victims had trouble breathing. 

Chlorine can burn the skin almost instantly and can kill a person if they inhale too much of the fumes. Chlorine is usually used domestically as a disinfectant as well as a bleach.

In April, at least 35 were killed when insurgents detonated a chlorine bomb in the city of Ramadi.

This comes just 6 days after Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division based in Iraq's Diyala province asked for more troops to help with insurgents.