LatelineNews: 2005-9-29] BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three suicide attackers exploded a string of near-simultaneous car bombs in a mainly Shiite town Thursday, killing at least 60 people and wounding 70, Elsewhere, a roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers fighting in a hotbed of Iraq's insurgency.
The attacks were part of a new surge of violence ahead of an Oct. 15 referendum on Iraq's constitution, whose passage is crucial to prospects for starting a withdrawal of American troops. The U.S. ambassador was struggling to negotiate changes to the charter in hopes of winning Sunni Arab support.
Sunni insurgents have vowed to wreck the vote, with al-Qaida in Iraq declaring ``all-out war'' on the Shiite majority that dominates Iraq's government. Moderate Sunni Arab leaders called on their community to vote against the charter, saying it will fragment Iraq and leave them weak compared to Shiites and Kurds.
Also Thursday, Sunnis said U.S. troops raided the homes of two Sunni leaders, angering sect members and reinforcing their feeling of alienation in the political process.
The car bombs exploded just before sunset in downtown Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, hitting a bank, a vegetable market and another location, Police Lt. Ghafil Hassan said.
At least 60 were killed. Most of the casualties were civilians, though among the 70 wounded were the police chief and four officers, said Dr. Khaled al-Azawi of Balad Hospital. Hassan said the toll could reach 75 dead and 100 wounded, saying there were body parts at the scene not accounted for at the hospital. A major U.S. air base is located on Balad's outskirts.
Meanwhile, in Ramadi - a center of insurgent activity 80 miles west of Baghdad - a roadside bomb exploded during combat Wednesday, killing five Americans, a Marine statement said. It was the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces since a roadside bomb killed 14 Marines in the town of Haditha on Aug. 3.
The Ramadi blast brought to 1,934 the number of U.S. service members who have died since Iraq's war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
More than 140 people - including 13 U.S. service members - have been killed in the past four days.
