BAGHDAD — A thunderous blast tore through a vacant apartment building in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding more than 130 in adjacent houses just minutes after the Iraqi army arrived to investigate tips about a weapons cache.
In another development, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit Iraq, but no date has been set, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced. It would be the first visit to Iraq by a top Iranian leader since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Udall favors more troops in Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan deserves its own troop surge and is likely a “five-year undertaking,” Rep. Mark Udall said Wednesday after returning from a 36-hour tour of the country.
The Eldorado Springs Democrat said a planned addition of 3,200 additional Marines was a “start” in shifting focus back to a war that he said has been neglected. He noted he recently signed onto a bill calling for a redeployment of some troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
“We owe it to the people of Afghanistan and ourselves to stabilize” the situation, he said. The Associated Press
