Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Car bombs explode near Iranian Embassy
Security
(AP) - Two car bombs exploded near the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, and a Sunni Arab insurgent group claimed responsibility for a similar attack the day before. Tuesday's two car bombs exploded within two minutes of each other at about 10 a.m. in a public parking lot located about 150 yards from the front of the Iranian Embassy, wounding six civilians but causing no damage to the embassy or its guards, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy in Karradah Mariam, an area of Baghdad that is about 200 yards from the heavily guarded Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies operate. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot at about noon, killing one civilian and wounding another. At 4:30 p.m., the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On Tuesday, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah issued a statement on its Web site claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot. "Despite the failed and filthy security plan which is being carried by crusaders and renegades against Muslims in this country, your brother mujahedeen are determined to continue this long road," the group said. It said the attack targeted a parking lot used by Iraqi "renegades who work at the Green Zone."
U.S. officials have accused Iran, a mostly Shiite country, of training and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, fueling the country's sectarian war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of Iraq's Shiite-majority government, recently said efforts are under way to try to release five Iranians who were captured by U.S. forces on Jan. 11 in the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. U.S. authorities have said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy in Karradah Mariam, an area of Baghdad that is about 200 yards from the heavily guarded Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies operate. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot at about noon, killing one civilian and wounding another. At 4:30 p.m., the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On Tuesday, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah issued a statement on its Web site claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot. "Despite the failed and filthy security plan which is being carried by crusaders and renegades against Muslims in this country, your brother mujahedeen are determined to continue this long road," the group said. It said the attack targeted a parking lot used by Iraqi "renegades who work at the Green Zone."
U.S. officials have accused Iran, a mostly Shiite country, of training and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, fueling the country's sectarian war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of Iraq's Shiite-majority government, recently said efforts are under way to try to release five Iranians who were captured by U.S. forces on Jan. 11 in the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. U.S. authorities have said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, car bombs, Green Zone, Iranian embassy, Karradah Mariam
Monday, April 23, 2007
Suicide bomb attacks across Iraq kill 27
Security
(AP) - Three suicide bombers launched attacks in different parts of Iraq on Monday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 60 on Monday, police and politicians said. A parked car bomb also exploded outside the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, killing one civilian, and a drive-by shooting wounded two guards at Tunisia's Embassy in the capital, police said.
Monday's first suicide car bomb attack occurred near the northern city of Mosul at 10:10 a.m. when a suicide attacker detonated his car in front of an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, an official with the group said. At least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded in the attack in Tal Uskuf, a predominantly Christian town 9 miles north of Mosul, said Abdul-Ghani Ali, a KDP official. A witness said residents were in deep shock because it was the first terrorist attack in their tight-knit community since the Iraq war started.
A suicide car bomber also struck a police station in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, at about 11 a.m., killing at least 10 people and wounding 23, police said. In central Baghdad, a bomber wearing an explosives belt blew himself up in an Iraqi restaurant in the mixed Shiite-Sunni neighborhood of Karradah Mariam, killing at least seven people and wounding 16, police said. The attack occurred at about 11 a.m. less than 100 yards outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government's headquarters. At the time, Ryan Crocker, who became the new U.S. ambassador in Iraq about a month ago, was giving a news conference in the Green Zone.
The Iranian Embassy also is located in Karradah Mariam, and a parked car bomb exploded in a parking lot near it at about 12 noon, killing one civilian and wounding another, said Iraqi police. At about 11:30 a.m., drive-by shooters opened fire on guards outside the Tunisian Embassy in the mostly Sunni district of Mansour in western Baghdad, wounding two of them, police said.
Monday's first suicide car bomb attack occurred near the northern city of Mosul at 10:10 a.m. when a suicide attacker detonated his car in front of an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, an official with the group said. At least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded in the attack in Tal Uskuf, a predominantly Christian town 9 miles north of Mosul, said Abdul-Ghani Ali, a KDP official. A witness said residents were in deep shock because it was the first terrorist attack in their tight-knit community since the Iraq war started.
A suicide car bomber also struck a police station in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, at about 11 a.m., killing at least 10 people and wounding 23, police said. In central Baghdad, a bomber wearing an explosives belt blew himself up in an Iraqi restaurant in the mixed Shiite-Sunni neighborhood of Karradah Mariam, killing at least seven people and wounding 16, police said. The attack occurred at about 11 a.m. less than 100 yards outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government's headquarters. At the time, Ryan Crocker, who became the new U.S. ambassador in Iraq about a month ago, was giving a news conference in the Green Zone.
The Iranian Embassy also is located in Karradah Mariam, and a parked car bomb exploded in a parking lot near it at about 12 noon, killing one civilian and wounding another, said Iraqi police. At about 11:30 a.m., drive-by shooters opened fire on guards outside the Tunisian Embassy in the mostly Sunni district of Mansour in western Baghdad, wounding two of them, police said.
Labels: Abdul-Ghani Ali, Baghdad, Baqouba, Iranian embassy, Iraq, Karradah Mariam, KDP, Mosul, police station, suicide bombings
