Italian base in Iraq devastatedhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3263087.stmAt least 22 people are reported to have been killed in a bomb attack on an Italian base in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya.
Italian military spokesmen say 11 of the dead were paramilitary police officers and three were soldiers.
Local hospital officials quoted by Reuters news agency say eight Iraqis were also killed.
These are the first deaths to hostile action among the 2,400-strong Italian force in Iraq.
The powerful explosion - said to have been detonated by a suicide truck bomber - tore the front off the building.
Eyewitnesses said the bomber rammed his vehicle through the gate of the Italian compound and detonated his bomb in front of the Carabinieri building, setting it on fire and trapping people under rubble.
Vehicles parked outside the building exploded in flames, and secondary explosions from ammunition stored on the compound rocked the area moments after the main blast.
Italian paramilitary police - known as Carabinieri - are part of a post-war deployment of about 2,400 Italian troops in Iraq.
They serve under British command in southern Iraq as part of the US-led coalition.
'Vile attack' The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says there is deep dismay in Italy.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has appeared on national television to express his condolences to the families of the dead and parliament has been adjourned as a sign of national mourning.
Mr Ciampi called the bombing a "terrorist act" and said the officers were killed "in carrying out their duty to help the people of Iraq recover peace, order and security".
"Our carabinieri, our armed forces are in Iraq by a mandate and the will of parliament," he said. "All of Italy is behind them and supports them in this bitter trial."
The Pope condemned the bombing, describing it as a "vile attack" against a misssion of peace.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the attack would not derail Italy's commitment to helping Iraq, but the Italian opposition has demanded the withdrawal of the country's troops from Iraq.
"They were sent to an Iraq in flames because the government wanted to do a favour for the Bush administration without taking risks into consideration," said Pietro Folena of the main opposition party, the Democrats of the Left.
"Now the Italian soldiers must come home. It is the only right thing to do at this moment."
Members of other opposition parties made similar demands.
US soldier killed Vehicle bombs have been used in attacks on numerous organisations in Iraq since the war ended, including the United Nations and the International Red Cross.
Nasiriya, a Shia Muslim city that saw heavy fighting during the war, had been relatively quite in recent months.
However, the BBC's Peter Biles says the bombing of a minibus in Basra on Tuesday and the killing of a Polish soldier near Karbala last week point to a possible upsurge of attacks in southern Iraq.
Elsewhere in Iraq, the US military says another of its soldiers has been killed in an explosion north of Baghdad.
He died when a bomb exploded under his vehicle during a patrol on Tuesday night.
More than 150 US troops have been killed in attacks by unknown groups since major combat operations in Iraq ended.