Twin Car Bombs Hit Baghdad; 155 killed, 500 Wounded

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Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack in Baghdad, Oct. 25, 2009. (Photo credit: Karim Kadim / AP)

October 25, 2009

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A pair of suicide car bombings Sunday devastated the heart of Iraq’s capital, killing at least 155 people in the country’s deadliest attack in more than two years. The bombs targeted two government buildings and called into question Iraq’s ability to protect its people as U.S. forces withdraw. …

The dead included 35 employees at the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, said police and medical officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. At least 500 people were wounded, including three American contractors.

The street where the blasts occurred had just been reopened to vehicle traffic six months ago. Shortly after, blast walls were repositioned to allow traffic closer to the government buildings. Such changes were touted by Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a sign that safety was returning to the city.

The Iraqi leader walked among the mangled and blackened cars, which lay in front of blast walls that had been decorated with peaceful street scenes of Iraq. At the Justice Ministry, windows and walls on both sides of the street were blown away, and blood pooled with water from burst pipes. …

Black smoke billowed from the frantic scene, as emergency service vehicles sped to the area. Many of the wounded were loaded into the back of trucks and into civilian cars because there were too many for ambulances to carry. …

The blasts are a blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has staked his reputation and re-election hopes on returning security to the country. …

Blasts near Green Zone

The area where the blasts occurred is just a few hundred yards from the Green Zone that houses the U.S. Embassy as well as the prime minister’s offices. …

The explosive-laden vehicles were sitting in parking garages next to the two government buildings, police said. …

The coordinated bombings were the deadliest incident since a series of massive truck bombs in northern Iraq killed nearly 500 villagers from the minority Yazidi sect in August 2007. In Baghdad itself, however, it is the worst attack since a series of suicide bombings against Shiite neighborhoods in April 2007 killed 183 people. …

Ball of flames

Video images captured on a cell phone showed the second blast going off in a massive ball of flames, followed by a burst of machine gun fire. …

In this image from amateur video, a man runs from the blast as one of two huge car bombs explode in central Baghdad, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. (Photo credit: The Associated Press)

The explosions were just a few hundred yards from Iraq’s Foreign Ministry which is still rebuilding after massive bombings there in August. …

Full story

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Some of the Deadliest Attacks in Iraq

October 25, 2009

Some of the deadliest militant attacks in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003:

• Oct. 25, 2009 — Two powerful car bombs explode in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 155 people in an apparent attempt to target the fragile city’s government offices.
• Aug. 14, 2007 — Four suicide truck bombs detonate simultaneously in the small village of Qahataniya, killing more than 500 Yazidis, a small Kurdish-speaking sect and religious minority.
• July 7, 2007 — A suicide truck bomb kills 160 in a Turkomen village south of Kirkuk.
• April 18, 2007 — At least 183 are killed when four large bombs explode in mainly Shiite locations of Baghdad.
• March 27, 2007 — Truck bombs hit markets in the northwestern city of Tal Afar, killing at least 152 people.
• Feb. 3, 2007 — A suicide truck bomber at a market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad kills 137.
• Nov. 23, 2006 — Mortar rounds and five car bombs kill 215 people in Baghdad’s Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City.
• Sept. 14, 2005 — More than a dozen coordinated bombings rip through Baghdad, killing 178 people.
• March 2, 2004 — Coordinated blasts from suicide bombers, mortars and planted explosives strike Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and in Baghdad, killing at least 181 people.

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Major Attacks in Iraq Since Jan. 1, 2009

October 25, 2009

Major attacks in Iraq since Jan. 1, 2009 when a new U.S.-Iraqi security pact took effect:

• Oct. 25 — Two powerful car bombs explode in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 155 people in an apparent attempt to target the fragile city’s government offices.
• Aug. 19 — A series of bombings against ministries kills 102 people, including 65 at the Foreign Ministry, 28 at the Finance Minister and 8 at the Health Ministry. More than 500 are wounded in the attacks.
• Aug. 7 — A suicide truck bomb targets a Shiite mosque in a northern suburb of Mosul, flattening the mosque and killing at least 44 people. The attack also injures more than 200 people. Bombings against Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad kill seven.
• June 24 — Bomb rips through crowded market in Baghdad’s Sadr City, killing 78.
• May 20 — A parked car bomb explodes near several restaurants in northwest Baghdad, killing 41.
• April 29 — Twin car bombing in a popular shopping area in Sadr City, the biggest Shiite district in Baghdad, kills 51 people.
• April 24 — Back-to-back female suicide bombings kill 71 people outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad in Kazimiyah.
• April 23 — Suicide bomber strikes restaurant in Muqdadiyah, kills at least 53, including 44 Iranian pilgrims, three Iraqis and six burned beyond recognition bodies.
• March 10 — Suicide bomber targets tribal leaders at market in Abu Ghraib, killing 33.
• March 8 — Suicide bomber strikes police academy in Baghdad, killing at least 30.
• Feb. 13 — Female suicide bomber targets Shiite pilgrims in Musayyib, killing 40.
• Jan. 4 — Female suicide bomber strikes Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad, killing 38.

Note: Links added to related reports on this site.

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AFGHANISTAN WAR — BREAKING NEWS

4 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Chopper Collision

October 26, 2009

KABUL — The U.S. military said four American troops were killed and two injured in a collision of two helicopters in southern Afghanistan Monday morning.

Hostile fire was ruled out in the crash. No further details were released.

In an unrelated incident, another helicopter went down Monday during a joint international security force operation against insurgents in western Afghanistan in which a dozen militants were killed.

The U.S. said military casualties were reported and a recovery operation was under way. …

In the capital of Kabul, riot police fired shots in the air Sunday to disperse a demonstration by nearly 1,000 students protesting the rumored desecration of a Muslim holy book, the Quran, by U.S. troops during an operation two weeks ago in Wardak province.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP Students run as police fire on a demonstration in front of the Afghan parliament in Kabul on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009.

U.S. and Afghan authorities have denied any such desecration and insist that the Taliban are spreading the rumor to stir up public anger. The rumor has sparked similar protests in Wardak and Khost provinces.

Students burned an effigy of Obama and chanted slogans such as “down with Americans, down with Israel” as they marched from Kabul University to the parliament building, where riot police turned them back. There were no reports of casualties. …

Also Sunday, the NATO command said a bomb killed an American service member the day before in southern Afghanistan. No further details were released. …

Full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — October 25, 2008

Write-in Campaign: Day 7

One year ago today, on the seventh day of my write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I reported that a new poll sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio and the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute mirrored the results of a SurveyUSA poll released the previous day by KSTP television: Support for Bachmann was holding steady a week after she became a lightning rod for national criticism and media attention when she told Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that Barack Obama “may have anti-American views” and the media should investigate which members of Congress “are pro-America or anti-America.”

                                                            Bachmann Tinklenberg Anderson Undecided
Grove Insight (Aug. 19-21)                        40            27                 –                 —
Grove Insight (Oct. 10-12)                         42            38                 –                15
Public Opinion Strategies (Oct. 12-13)    44            33                 8                 —
“Hardball” interview (Oct. 17)
SurveyUSA (Oct. 20-21)                            44             47                 6                  2
MPR/UofM (Oct. 21-23)                           43             45                 5                  7
Mean                                                             42.6          38               6.3              8.8
Standard deviation                                      1.5           7.4               1.2              5.4