Wave of Blasts Kills At Least 95 in Baghdad

Nearly 1,000 wounded in attacks

Firefighters respond to a bombing near the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. (Photo credit: Khalid Mohammed / AP)

The Associated Press and Reuters, via MSNBC.com
Aug. 19, 2009

BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials raised the death toll in a wave of bombings in Baghdad to at least 95 with close to 1,000 injured. It is the deadliest coordinated attack since U.S. troops withdrew from urban centers in June.

The most devastating strike blackened the facade of the Foreign Ministry, killing at least 59 people and wounding 250, according to police and hospital officials. Rescue workers dug through rubble and debris near the ministry, which is adjacent to the Green Zone, the most heavily protected part of the capital. …

At least six bombs and mortar rounds struck near government ministries and other sensitive sites in quick succession, the latest in a series of attacks in the capital and Iraq’s north that raised doubts about the ability of Iraqi security forces to cope without U.S. help.

Fears of resurging violence

A steady escalation of attacks this month have sparked fears of a resurgence of violence ahead of next year’s national elections.

The force of the explosion at the Foreign Ministry blew concrete slabs off the front of the 10-story building, shattered windows and crushed cars parked outside. Dozens of cars were burned.

“The windows of the Foreign Ministry shattered, slaughtering the people inside,” Reuters quoted a ministry employee who gave her name as Asia as saying. “I could see ministry workers, journalists and security guards among the dead.”

The blast was so strong it also damaged nearby buildings. A large area outside the ministry was covered by debris and broken glass and it damaged windows in the parliament building, inside the Green Zone. …

Government, commercial sites attacked

Mortars also slammed into the Green Zone, Iraqi officials said, with one landing near the U.N. compound, briefly delaying a press conference being held to discuss humanitarian issues on the sixth anniversary of the Aug. 19, 2003, bombing at the world body’s headquarters that killed 22 people, including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

A suicide truck bomber took aim at the Finance Ministry in northern Baghdad, detonating his explosives near a joint Iraqi police and army patrol outside and causing part of a nearby overpass to collapse.

Hospital officials said at least 28 people were killed and 117 wounded in that blast. …

Another blast in the commercial area of western Baghdad’s Baiyaa district killed two people and wounded 16, while a bombing in the commercial district of Bab al-Muadham killed six people and wounded 24, authorities said.

Mortars also landed in the Salhiya district of central Baghdad, home to army bases and the offices of a national television station.

Another explosion was close enough to Reuters’ offices in central Baghdad’s Karrada district to burst open windows and doors. Columns of smoke could be seen rising from several sites. …

Slide presentation

Baghdad blasts (MSNBC, Aug. 19, 2009) — Dozens are killed by bombings in the deadliest day in Baghdad since a pullback by U.S. troops on June 30, 2009.

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1/14/10 Update

Iraq Sentences 11 to Death for Massive Bombings

August 2009 attack on foreign, finance ministries killed more than 100

In this file photo, firefighters respond to a bombing at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 19, 2009. (Photo credit: Khalid Mohammed / AP)

Jan. 14, 2010

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi court Thursday sentenced 11 people to death by hanging after convicting them of carrying out the August bombings of two government ministries that killed more than 100 people in the heart of Baghdad. …

Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said a criminal court in Baghdad’s eastern Rusafah district found the 11 defendants guilty of financing, planning and participating in the Aug. 19 bombings that devastated the foreign and finance ministries.

There have since been two other massive attacks in Baghdad targeting government buildings, in October and December. Those attacks together killed more than 280 people and injured hundreds more. …

Persistent security risks extend beyond the capital.

Three explosions, including one caused by a car bomb, rocked the southern city of Najaf at about 5:45 p.m. near a commercial area, police said. An official in the city’s health department said at least one person was killed and 50 were wounded. …

Full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago Today — August 19, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day 36

One year ago today, on then the 36th day of my campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I issued instructions regarding voter registration to citizens not already registered to vote in the Minnesota state primary election. I also issued an explanation to all prospective voters regarding Minnesota’s open primary system, which allows citizens to vote in the partisan primary of their choice — irrespective of whether they consider themselves Republican, Democrat, or independent.