BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) # Four explosions shook Baghdad early Monday, the first and largest a suicide bombing that targeted the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Ten people were reported killed.
Separately, at least three other bomb attacks were reported on Iraqi police stations across Baghdad with a fourth attempted. Coalition officials said an unknown number of American soldiers were injured in at least one of the station bombings.
Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling of the U.S. Army confirmed that the attack on the Red Cross compound was a suicide bombing.
“Initial indicators, and we’re trying to confirm this, but we have eyewitnesses that say that the truck was, in fact, a Red Cross-Red Crescent truck, carrying the explosives # like a panel van, a little bit larger,” Hertling said.
Hertling called the explosion a “criminal, terrorist act.” He also said Iraqi police prevented the explosives-laden vehicle from entering the Red Cross compound. The driver detonated his explosives when he was stopped by police, Hertling said.
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 10 others wounded in the suicide attack on the Red Cross building, Hertling said. A Baghdad hospital official confirmed 10 deaths and more than 20 wounded # all Iraqis.
Red Cross spokeswoman Nada Doumani said the attack on the ICRC compound was a shock.
“Maybe it was an illusion to think people would understand after 23 years that we are unbiased. I can’t understand why we’ve been targeted,” Doumani said. The ICRC has been providing humanitarian assistance in Iraq since 1980.
Red Cross officials vowed to continue their work in Iraq despite the attack.
The attack on the Red Cross occurred at about 8:20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. ET).
Coalition military vehicles, including tanks, raced to the scene, cordoning off the area surrounding the Red Cross. Coalition helicopters criss-crossed the sky.
Fire trucks and ambulances crowded the area surrounding the compound.
Attacks kill 4 U.S. soldiers
In attacks against coalition forces Sunday, a U.S. soldier from the 18th Military Police Brigade was killed in a mortar attack in the Iraqi capital near the Abu Gharib prison around 10:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), the Coalition Public Information Center said.
About 30 minutes earlier, two soldiers from the 1st Armored Division were killed and two wounded Sunday night when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Baghdad.
Another U.S. soldier died in a rocket attack on the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, where U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying.
Since the Iraq war began in March, 351 U.S. troops have been killed, including 227 in hostile fire. Since Bush declared the end of major combat May 1, 212 U.S. troops have died, 112 in hostile fire.