Hillah, Iraq ? Suicide bombers detonated explosives outside a Polish-run base Wednesday, killing 10 Iraqis and wounding more than 100 people, more than half of them coalition soldiers. The United States arrested seven guerrillas believed linked to al-Qaida in an early morning raid to the north.

The attack in Hillah, the third suicide bombing of security targets in two weeks, was part of a wider effort “to isolate us from the Iraqi people,” coalition military commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters in Tikrit.

Coalition and military officials said at least 106 people were hurt in the blasts, which happened in the Hayy Babil neighborhood near Camp Charlie. The wounded included 32 Iraqis and 26 Poles, as well as Hungarians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and an American.

The casualty toll could have been much higher had guards not opened fire and prevented the bombers from entering the camp. One truck exploded under the gunfire, and another blew up after hitting a concrete barrier.

The 7:15 a.m. blasts — from 1,540 pounds of explosives — flattened 11 homes nearby and blew down the entire sides of several other houses in this town south of Baghdad.

Handing over power

The stepped-up violence could be aimed at preventing U.S. administrators from handing over power to the Iraqis on June 30, when Iraqi security forces would also take a more prominent role against the insurgency.

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday the Bush administration was considering a major shift in its plan for transition to Iraqi self-rule, possibly extending and expanding the Governing Council so it can take temporary control of the country on July 1.

On Wednesday, members of Iraq’s Governing Council distanced themselves further from the U.S. idea of holding regional caucuses to elect an interim government after the planned hand over.

Wissam Ali, 7, is given a drink of water at a hospital in Hillah, Iraq, after he was injured when two explosives-laden trucks were detonated outside a Polish military camp in Hillah. Wednesday's blasts killed at least 10 Iraqis, including Wissam's parents.

Mouwafak al-Rubaie, a Shiite Arab member of the Governing Council, said the idea of using caucuses to choose a provisional legislature was “gone with the wind.” He said the only solution palatable to Iraqis was general elections.

Suspected al-Qaida found

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. troops arrested seven militants believed linked to al-Qaida in the turbulent city of Baqouba, north of the capital, the military said. It gave no details on the nationalities of the militants. There was no indication the attacks and the U.S. raid were directly linked.

Troops from the 4th Infantry Division carried out the raid early Wednesday targeting an “anti-coalition cell” that may have ties to Osama bin Laden’s terror group, a statement from the U.S. command said.

Suicide attacks have killed 300 people, mostly Iraqis, since the beginning of the year. They have fueled speculation that Islamic extremists, possibly linked to al-Qaida, were playing a greater role in the anti-coalition insurgency.