As Iraq's Christian minority already struggled to overcome an unprecedented wave of attacks and kidnappings, a sport utility vehicle packed with artillery shells slammed into a crowd waiting to volunteer for the American backed Iraqi military Thursday June 17, killing at least 35 people and wounding 138.

Another car bomb north of the capital killed six members of the Iraqi security forces as part of efforts by foreign militants "to turn Iraq into a graveyard," Iraqi officials said. There were no reports of American casualties.



The explosion, the deadliest attack since a bombing outside another recruiting center in February, came shortly after church leaders expressed concern about growing Islamic extremism ahead of the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30. "We are suffering from two and three kidnappings a week," Father Bashar Warda, who teaches at the Chaldean Christians' Babel College for Philosophy and Theology in Baghdad, said.



The Chaldeans, he said, form about 3% of the population but a much larger proportion of those with higher education, including hundreds of engineers and doctors, who have been especially targeted for kidnappings as well as their families.



Adding to the difficulties are reports that many Christians are working for coalition forces and often singled out for deadly attacks. "The occupation forces employ 100 Christians and 30 have been killed," said Father Bashar Warda.

by Stefan Bos, ASSIST News Service