Iraq Watch: December 8, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A man detonated an explosive-filled satchel upon boarding a crowded bus destined for the southern, Shiite city of Nasiriyah on Thursday killing at least 32 people and wounding 44. The suicide bomber triggered the device around 10:45 a.m., shortly after the bus had left Baghdad's Nahda terminal. U.S. officials blamed al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for the blast although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly incident.

At the nearby al-Kindi Hospital, where many of the burn victims were taken, distraught relatives waited impatiently outside the packed medical facility for word on the condition of their loved-ones. Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned about the possibility of increasing violence as Iraq nears parliamentary elections scheduled for December 15. Al-Qaida in Iraq has been distributing flyers commanding Iraqis to "steer clear" of the polls on election day.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military announced the death of two U.S. service members. A Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed by an IED Thursday morning in eastern Baghdad while a U.S. Marine, assigned to the II MEF, died yesterday as a result of an IED attack near Ramadi.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) announced that it had executed American hostage Ronald Alan Schulz. The militant group first announced that it had captured Schulz, who worked as a security consultant for the Iraqi Ministry of Housing, on Tuesday releasing a video of the North Dakota native who was shown bound, sitting in a plastic chair.