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Mar 8th, 2009


This weekend marks the anniversary of the March 7, 1965, Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march known as Bloody Sunday.

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Suicide Bomber Targets Iraqi Police, 32 Killed

Image: Iraqis carry coffin
Iraqis carry the coffin of a relative who was killed in a suicide attack as they leave the mortuary of al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad, March 8, 2009. (Photo credit: Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP — Getty Images)


March 8, 2009

BAGHDAD — A total of 12,000 American and 4,000 British troops will leave Iraq by September, the U.S. military said Sunday, hours after a suicide bomber killed 32 people at the entrance of Baghdad’s main police academy in a chilling reminder of the nation’s still-shaky security.

The blast — the second major attack to hit Iraqis in three days and the deadliest to strike Baghdad in nearly a month — was a bloody reminder of the ability of insurgents to defy security improvements and stage dramatic attacks as the U.S. begins to draw down its forces. …

Extremists increasingly have targeted Iraqi forces as they take over the country’s security so the American troops can go home. Baghdad’s main police academy has been hit by several bombings. Another suicide bombing there killed at least 33 people and wounded dozens on Dec. 1.

The bomber on Sunday detonated his explosives as he drove his motorcycle into a group of people waiting near a side entrance of the academy, which is in a mainly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad.

Iraqi and U.S. forces sealed off the scene, allowing only ambulances and fire engines to enter. Nervous Iraqi troops fired in the air to prevent onlookers and reporters from getting too close. They accidentally shot at a fire engine but no casualties were reported, according to witnesses. …

Three medical officials and one police officer in the area where the bombing occurred said 32 people were killed, including 19 recruits, nine policemen and four traffic police, and some 60 others were wounded. …

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Security Developments in Iraq

Following are security developments in Iraq on Sunday, March 8, 2009, as reported by Reuters.

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt and driving a motorcycle loaded with explosives killed 28 people and wounded 57 as recruits gathered at a police academy in central Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – Three members of a U.S. backed neighborhood patrol were wounded by a roadside bomb in the Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – A bomb attached to a vehicle carrying an employee of Iraq’s parliament wounded him and a bystander in the Mansour district of western Baghdad, police said.

Following are security developments in Iraq on Saturday, March 7, 2009, as reported by Reuters.

BAGHDAD – A U.S. soldier was killed after an attack on a military patrol in Salahudin province north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

MOSUL – Two Iraqi soldiers were killed when gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in eastern Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL – A militant threw a hand grenade at a police patrol in central Mosul, killing a soldier and wounding a civilian, police said.

MOSUL – Police found the body of a nine-year-old girl in eastern Mosul, police said.

MOSUL – A roadside bomb wounded two policemen when it exploded near a police convoy in western Mosul, police said.

MOSUL – A bomb wounded four civilians when it exploded in a shop in south-eastern Mosul, police said.

MOSUL – A bomb close to a police checkpoint wounded one policeman in southern Mosul, police said.

TIKRIT – A roadside bomb in central Tikrit, 95 miles north of Baghdad, killed two civilians on Friday night, police said.

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb wounded three civilians and two policemen on Palestine street in north-eastern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD – Three civilians were wounded when two successive roadside bombs exploded in Wathiq Square in central Baghdad, police said.

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4/10/2017 Update

Palm Sunday Massacre in Egypt

Security personnel survey the scene of a bomb blast at St. George's Church in Tanta, Egypt, on Palm Sunday.
Security personnel survey the scene of a bomb blast at St. George’s Church in Tanta, Egypt, on Palm Sunday. (Photo: CNN)

CNN reports that ISIS targeted two Coptic Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017, killing at least 49 people. At one church, an explosive device was placed under a seat. At the other, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside. At least 27 people died in a blast inside a church in the northern city of Tanta, and 78 people were injured, according to Egypt’s state-run news agency Al-Ahram. In Alexandria, 18 civilians and four police officers were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Coptic church, Al-Ahram said.





3 Responses to “Sunday Bloody Sunday in Iraq”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Massive Bomb Attack on Iraq Govt Says:

    […] March 8, 2009 — Suicide bomber strikes police academy in Baghdad, killing at least 30. […]

  2. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Iraq Election Violence Says:

    […] Sunday Bloody Sunday in Iraq […]

  3. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Missing Person Brandon Swanson Says:

    […] Sunday Bloody Sunday in Iraq […]

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