Wheelchair bomb kills Iraqi officer

BAGHDAD —  An explosion killed a police commander Monday during a visit by a man in a wheelchair who might have been a suicide bomber or an unwitting victim of insurgents, officials said.

If the man was used by militants, it would be the third time this month that Iraqi security forces say disabled people were used to carry explosives that killed themselves and others.

Also Monday, sectarian attacks on Shiite Muslims walking to the holy city of Karbala for a religious commemoration killed four more pilgrims. At least 56 pilgrims were killed Sunday when an attacker wearing an explosives belt blew up a tent south of Baghdad where they had stopped to rest and eat.

The weeklong pilgrimage, which culminates Thursday, commemorates the end of the 40 days of mourning after the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad.

More than 200 people died during last year’s pilgrimage. This year, police have banned motorcycles, bicycles, horse-drawn carts and other small vehicles that have been used to carry bombs past checkpoints along the route. An Iraqi security spokesman, army Maj. Gen. Qassim Musawi, said the bans might be extended in some areas to cars and trucks.

At a news conference, Musawi also warned of a new tactic by insurgents: the use of what he called “sticky bombs” attached to the undercarriages of vehicles with duct tape. He described them as small plastic bombs with highly explosive materials.

Iraqi and U.S. officials say insurgents are adopting new techniques because security measures have made it more difficult to use truck bombs and other means.

Nearly simultaneous attacks Feb. 1 at two Baghdad markets killed 99 people. U.S. and Iraqi officials have said the women who carried the explosives were mentally disabled or ill, and did not realize what they were doing.

Police said the man in Monday’s bombing in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, blew himself up, but in a meeting with journalists, Interior Minister Jawad Bolani said the man might also have been an unwitting carrier of explosives.

Bolani described the man as a regular visitor to the police station who was known to commanders there.

Police said the man was being pushed in his wheelchair by another man. He said he needed to speak with the major general in charge of police and military operations in Samarra. He agreed to speak to his deputy, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Jabbar Rabi, because the commander was in a meeting. The man was not searched because of his physical condition. He and Rabi died in the blast.

In Diyala province north of Baghdad, gunmen attacked an Iraqi army patrol and killed eight Iraqi soldiers, police said.

A top Pentagon planner in Washington said Monday that there will be about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq in July, after forces sent as part of the troop buildup have been withdrawn. Such a level would be roughly 8,000 more than the force size that existed in January 2007, before President Bush ordered the increase.

The reason for the larger force is that many of the troops sent to support the buildup will remain, said Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Among the support troops were helicopter units and soldiers specializing in detention operations.

There are currently 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Commanders have reduced the U.S. force size slowly to avoid jeopardizing gains, Ham said.

tina.susman@latimes.com

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Times staff writers Julian E. Barnes and Paul Richter in Washington and special correspondents in Baghdad, Hillah and Baqubah contributed to this report.