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A suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base in the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriya has left more than 26 dead

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An explosive-laden lorry crashed the gates of the compound - the first attack on Italian peacekeepers

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Terrified passers-by fled the scene of explosion which occurred shortly before 1100 local time (0800 GMT)

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Rescue teams and fire engines rushed to the scene and the area was immediately sealed off

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The entire front of the three-storey office was blown up by the powerful blast

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Italian soldiers later set up a barbed-wire barricade around the compound

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US-led coalition officials and hospital sources said eight Iraqis were also killed and dozens wounded in the blast