Municipal Council approves expansion of Jahra Hospital

KUWAIT CITY, April 15 (KUNA): The Municipal Council has approved the proposed expansion of Jahra Hospital during its Monday session chaired by Jassar AlJassar after the Kuwait Municipality approved the allocation of additional 105,000 square meters of land for the project.

The approval was made in compliance with the desire of HH the Amir for the construction of a new hospital in the area.

Jahra Hospital will cover 394,000 square meters if the earlier allocation of 109,000 square meters of land and current allocation of 105,000 square meters is added to the initial allocation of 179,000 square meters of land.

The project will include the construction of a dental clinic as well as renovation, upgrade and expansion of the hospital to increase the bed spaces to 1,123, the administrative building, services station and parking lots to accommodate 3,000 vehicles.

Meanwhile, the council referred to the Technical Committee the request for allocation of 726,000 square meters of land to construct the media city in AlShadadiya.

They also approved allocation of a site for construction of a drainage water distillation plant and a petrol station in Khairan Residential City. The council also made several other decisions during the meeting. upcoming elections,” said Diaa al-Asadi, a political ally of the lawmaker who was traveling in the convoy.

Around sunset, a parked car bomb exploded near car dealerships in the eastern Habibiya neighborhood, killing ten. Other blasts struck the capital’s Kamila, Karrada, Shurta, Baladiyat and Umm al-Maalif neighborhoods.

In and around the ethnically-mixed northern city of Kirkuk, three parked car bombs went off downtown simultaneously - one in an Arab district, one in a Kurdish one, and one in a Turkomen district- killing four. Three other car bombs exploded outside the city, killing another five.

Kirkuk, about 290 kms (180 miles) from Baghdad, is home to a mix of ethnic groups with competing claims to the oil-rich region.

The day’s mayhem began around 6:30 a.m. in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah when a suicide bomber drove an explosivespacked car into a police checkpoint, killing two policemen and wounding six others.

Later in the day, two bodyguards assigned to a spokesman for anti-government protests that have raged for months were killed when a bomb attached to their car exploded on the highway between Ramadi and Fallujah. A similar bomb stuck to another car in the area killed two others.

Another 15 people were killed and dozens were wounded in attacks in Baqouba, Buhriz, Khalis, Mosul, Mussayab, Nasiriyah, Rutba, Tarmiyah and Tikrit.

Local police officials provided details of the attacks, and hospital officials confirmed the casualty tolls. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release details to reporters.

Although violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007, bombings and other attacks remain common.

The blasts struck a day after a series of attacks left 10 people dead, including a Sunni candidate running in the upcoming provincial elections.

The vote on Saturday will be the country’s first since US troops withdrew in December 2011. The election, for local-level officials, will be a test of the strength of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s political bloc as well as the ability of security forces to keep the country safe.

Monday’s violence marked Iraq’s deadliest day since March 19, the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion, when a wave of bombings killed 65 across the country.