The Italian government vowed yesterday to keep up its fight against terrorism and remain engaged in Iraq, despite grieving the deaths of at least 17 Italians in a truck bombing in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Italy's single worst military loss since World War II and its first in the Iraq campaign.

　　But some center-left opposition forces, who opposed Italy's deployment, called on the government to withdraw the contingent immediately following the attack at the Nasiriyah military garrison.

　　Defense Minister Antonio Martino, addressing Parliament, said 17 Italians were killed: 11 Carabinieri paramilitary police, four army soldiers, an Italian civilian working at the base and an Italian documentary filmmaker.

　　A spokesman for the US-led coalition said at least eight Iraqis were also killed. About 15 people were wounded, although their nationalities were not known.

　　The somber debate at the Senate opened with a minute of silence in memory of the victims.

　　The Italians were killed when an explosive-laden truck approached one of the buildings at the Italian compound at about 10:40 am Iraqi time (0740 GMT). The vehicle followed by an armored car approached the compound at high speed, and gunmen inside one of the vehicles opened fire at Italian troops guarding the entrance, Martino said. The guards returned fire, but the vehicle plowed through the gate, and then exploded, he said.

　　The force of the explosion was so strong that it blew out windows in another building across the Euphrates River. All the vehicles parked outside the stricken building exploded in flames."Pain is the sentiment of the whole nation in this moment," Premier Silvio Berlusconi said in a statement.

　　But, he added, Italy's determination to build Iraq remained strong. "No intimidation should derail us from our will to help resurrect this country and build self-government, security and freedom," the statement said.

　　Berlusconi supported the US-led campaign in Iraq, establishing himself as one of US President George W. Bush's closest allies in Europe. Rome never sent troops during the war, but deployed a 2,500-strong contingent in June to help rebuild the country.Despite the government's support of Washington, many ordinary Italians as well as center-left politicians opposed the war. With yesterday's attack bringing Italy its first fatalities in the Iraq campaign, Berlusconi's government was likely to come under tough questioning about its Iraq policy, particularly from the Greens and the communists.

　　"We hope that everyone now agrees on the immediate need to withdraw our troops," said Greens leader Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio. However, major opposition forces stopped short of immediately calling for the troops' withdrawal, expressing their condolences to the victims' families.

　　President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called the attack a "vile terrorist act." But he too said it wouldn't deter Italy.

　　"We will continue to carry out, along with our allies and the United Nations, our role in the fight against international terrorism," said Ciampi, who was due to travel to Washington last night to meet with President Bush.

　　Foreign Ministry Franco Frattini said the attack "will not deflect us from our determination to combat terrorism."In a statement, Frattini described the attack as "an assassination against the entire international community committed to reconstructing peace and stability for Iraq and for the Iraqi population."

　　Italy, however, stepped up security across the country as a precaution, said Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu. No details were provided.

　　Messages of condolences poured in from the Vatican and Washington, as well as from European capitals, including London, Madrid, Paris and Berlin.