Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Strategic bridge north of Baghdad blown up
Security
(AP) - A suicide truck bomber struck a strategic bridge north of Baghdad on Tuesday, sending cars plunging into the river and killing at least 10 people, police said. The attack occurred about noon on the Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji, a town near a U.S. air base some 12 miles north of the capital, police said, giving the casualty toll. The bridge lies on the main highway that links Baghdad with the northern city of Mosul.
Labels: suicide truck bomber, Taji, Thiraa Dijla bridge
Monday, August 06, 2007
Tripartite security talks to begin in Baghdad
Regional
(RFE/RL) - Experts from Iraq, the United States, and Iran will reportedly meet today in Baghdad to follow up on two previous senior-level meetings concerning security in Iraq. AFP quoted an unnamed U.S. Embassy official as suggesting it is an "Iraqi-led" meeting of "experts" at which "only security will be discussed." The Iranian news agency ISNA quoted Tehran's ambassador to Iraq, Hasan Kazemi-Qomi, as saying talks today will focus on the composition and mandate of a tripartite security committee.
Meanwhile today, at least 25 people were killed and 20 others injured in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar when a suicide truck bomber struck a crowded Shi'ite neighborhood. A complete curfew was imposed on the city after the attack, which also destroyed nearby homes. In a southern suburb of Baghdad, a roadside bomb reportedly killed nine Iraqis and wounded others at a minibus stop. Both bombings hit during morning rush hour.
Labels: Iran, suicide truck bomber, Tal Afar, tripartite security committee, U.S.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Mahdi Army clashes with U.S. troops in Karbala
Security
(AP) - Shiite militiamen battled with U.S. and Iraqi troops Friday in the holy city of Karbala, and the fighting left nine people dead and nearly two dozen wounded, local officials said. Separately, the U.S. military said another American soldier was killed in fighting, raising to eight the number of troop deaths reported during the past two days.
The fighting in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, broke out as the joint U.S.-Iraqi force conducted a pre-dawn raid on the house of a leader of the Mahdi Army militia, which is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, prompting the militia fighters to open fire, according to a police officer and a local council member.
The militia leader Razzaq al-Ardhi and his brother were arrested in the clashes, which lasted nearly two hours, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The officials said four militiamen and five civilians were killed and 23 people were wounded in the fighting, which also damaged four or five houses.
Another clash erupted about three hours later as residents were removing the dead bodies from the hospital. Militiamen with the mourners briefly fought with a joint Iraqi army and police patrol, but no casualties were reported, the officials said.
In Baghdad, cleanup crews used tractors and cranes to clear out the debris after a highly sophisticated simultaneous truck bombing and rocket attack devastated a Shiite market district in one of the capital's safest central neighborhoods Thursday. Rescue workers pulled three more bodies from the rubble, and police raised the casualty toll to at least 31 people killed and 104 wounded.
Mourners streamed into mosques and funeral tents were set up in the neighborhood's main street, where black banners were hung on the walls with names of the dead. Although suicide bombings are common in Iraq, it is rare for militants to stage such a double attack with such effectiveness. The attackers struck about 6:40 p.m. as the Karradah district's market area was packed with shoppers on the eve of the Islamic day of rest.
The fighting in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, broke out as the joint U.S.-Iraqi force conducted a pre-dawn raid on the house of a leader of the Mahdi Army militia, which is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, prompting the militia fighters to open fire, according to a police officer and a local council member.
The militia leader Razzaq al-Ardhi and his brother were arrested in the clashes, which lasted nearly two hours, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The officials said four militiamen and five civilians were killed and 23 people were wounded in the fighting, which also damaged four or five houses.
Another clash erupted about three hours later as residents were removing the dead bodies from the hospital. Militiamen with the mourners briefly fought with a joint Iraqi army and police patrol, but no casualties were reported, the officials said.
In Baghdad, cleanup crews used tractors and cranes to clear out the debris after a highly sophisticated simultaneous truck bombing and rocket attack devastated a Shiite market district in one of the capital's safest central neighborhoods Thursday. Rescue workers pulled three more bodies from the rubble, and police raised the casualty toll to at least 31 people killed and 104 wounded.
Mourners streamed into mosques and funeral tents were set up in the neighborhood's main street, where black banners were hung on the walls with names of the dead. Although suicide bombings are common in Iraq, it is rare for militants to stage such a double attack with such effectiveness. The attackers struck about 6:40 p.m. as the Karradah district's market area was packed with shoppers on the eve of the Islamic day of rest.
Labels: Baghdad, Karbala, Karrada, Mahdi Army, Razzaq al-Ardhi, suicide truck bomber, U.S.-Iraqi force
Monday, May 14, 2007
Suicide truck bomb attack on KDP office kills 50
Security
(Al Jazeera) - A suicide truck bomber has crashed into the offices of a Kurdish political party, killing at least 50 people and wounding 70, including the mayor. The attack in Makhmur on Sunday, 50km south of Arbil, badly damaged the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous region in northern Iraq.
Colonel Abdul Qadir al Harky, the head of police in Makhmour, said there were many bodies under the rubble and he expected the death toll to rise. "The bomb hit area with several government offices," he said. Other security sources said a KDP local meeting was in progress at the time of the attack.
It was the second suicide attack in Kurdish areas of the north in four days. Makhmur is just south of the autonomous Kurdish-controlled areas, but it has a substantial Kurdish population. The blast also killed the police chief and damaged the mayor's office, officials said. The attack occurred four days after a truck bombing in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-governing region, killed at least 15 people and wounding more than 100.
Colonel Abdul Qadir al Harky, the head of police in Makhmour, said there were many bodies under the rubble and he expected the death toll to rise. "The bomb hit area with several government offices," he said. Other security sources said a KDP local meeting was in progress at the time of the attack.
It was the second suicide attack in Kurdish areas of the north in four days. Makhmur is just south of the autonomous Kurdish-controlled areas, but it has a substantial Kurdish population. The blast also killed the police chief and damaged the mayor's office, officials said. The attack occurred four days after a truck bombing in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-governing region, killed at least 15 people and wounding more than 100.
Labels: Colonel Abdul Qadir al Harky, Kurdistan Democratic Party, Makhmur, suicide truck bomber
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Vital Baghdad bridges struck by suicide truck bombers
Security
(Al Jazeera) - Suicide truck bombs have struck three vital bridges near Baghdad, killing 26 people and wounding 60 others, in an apparent attempt by fighters to paralyse road links into the Iraqi capital. Describing Friday's attacks, an Iraqi army source said a truck bomb hit a bridge near the town of Taji, north of Baghdad, on the main highway connecting the capital with cities in the north.
He said it was quickly followed by a car bomb that killed four soldiers there. The US military said the bridge was impassable for northbound traffic. A police source said eight policemen were among the dead in the attacks on the bridges south of Baghdad, but it was unclear how many casualties were caused by each blast.
Police said the first bomber damaged the old Diyala bridge.
Minutes later, a few kilometres away, another attacker detonated a truck bomb on the new Diyala bridge. The two bridges over the Diyala river, a tributary of the Tigris, are commonly used by Shia pilgrims on their way to holy Shia cities to the south. Last month, a truck bomb destroyed the Sarafiya bridge in Baghdad.
On Friday, Major-General Benjamin R Mixon told Pentagon reporters by video conference from Iraq: "I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala to get that security situation moving. "We have plans to put additional forces in that region." Mixon commands the area that includes Diyala. He said he has already received extra troops, but violence in Diyala is on the rise both because more fighters have moved in and because multinational forces are taking the offensive.
"We have made progress ... we have taken terrain back from the enemy. "We are sure there are elements of both Sunni extremists and Shia extremists that have moved out of Baghdad and relocated into not only Diyala province, but also into Salah ad Din province."
He said it was quickly followed by a car bomb that killed four soldiers there. The US military said the bridge was impassable for northbound traffic. A police source said eight policemen were among the dead in the attacks on the bridges south of Baghdad, but it was unclear how many casualties were caused by each blast.
Police said the first bomber damaged the old Diyala bridge.
Minutes later, a few kilometres away, another attacker detonated a truck bomb on the new Diyala bridge. The two bridges over the Diyala river, a tributary of the Tigris, are commonly used by Shia pilgrims on their way to holy Shia cities to the south. Last month, a truck bomb destroyed the Sarafiya bridge in Baghdad.
On Friday, Major-General Benjamin R Mixon told Pentagon reporters by video conference from Iraq: "I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala to get that security situation moving. "We have plans to put additional forces in that region." Mixon commands the area that includes Diyala. He said he has already received extra troops, but violence in Diyala is on the rise both because more fighters have moved in and because multinational forces are taking the offensive.
"We have made progress ... we have taken terrain back from the enemy. "We are sure there are elements of both Sunni extremists and Shia extremists that have moved out of Baghdad and relocated into not only Diyala province, but also into Salah ad Din province."
Labels: Baghdad, bridges, Major-General Benjamin R Mixon, new Diyala bridge, old Diyala bridge, suicide truck bomber, Taji
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(McClatchy Newspapers) - Roundup of violence in Iraq - 8 May 2007
The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Hussein Kadhim in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau.
The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers Special Correspondent Hussein Kadhim in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau.
(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1000 GMT on Wednesday:
ARBIL - A suicide truck bomber killed 14 people and wounded 87 when he blew up his payload near the Kurdish regional government's interior ministry in Arbil, north of Baghdad, local officials said.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 25 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked workers who were setting up concrete barriers in the Sunni Arab district of Adhamiya in Baghdad, killing one and wounding two others, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting police commandos wounded three policemen in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad, police said.
FALLUJA - A hospital received the bodies of five people shot and tortured in the city of Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, doctor Bilal Mahmoud said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed a general director in the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction in northern Baghdad, police said.
MOSUL - Gunmen killed two men from the ancient Yazidi faith in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
SHIRQAT - A roadside bomb killed two people in the town of Shirqat, 80 km (50 miles) south of Mosul, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed two people and wounded six in Zaafaraniya in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
ARBIL - A suicide truck bomber killed 14 people and wounded 87 when he blew up his payload near the Kurdish regional government's interior ministry in Arbil, north of Baghdad, local officials said.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 25 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked workers who were setting up concrete barriers in the Sunni Arab district of Adhamiya in Baghdad, killing one and wounding two others, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting police commandos wounded three policemen in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad, police said.
FALLUJA - A hospital received the bodies of five people shot and tortured in the city of Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, doctor Bilal Mahmoud said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed a general director in the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction in northern Baghdad, police said.
MOSUL - Gunmen killed two men from the ancient Yazidi faith in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
SHIRQAT - A roadside bomb killed two people in the town of Shirqat, 80 km (50 miles) south of Mosul, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed two people and wounded six in Zaafaraniya in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
Labels: Adhamiyah, Arbil, Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul, roadside bombs, Shirqat, suicide truck bomber, Yazidis, Zaafaraniya
Suicide truck bomb kills 19 in Irbil
Security, Kurdistan
(AP) - A suicide truck bomb ripped through the Interior Ministry in the relatively peaceful Kurdish city of Irbil on Wednesday morning, killing at least 19 people and wounding 80, officials said. Kurdish officials blamed al-Qaida linked insurgents for the devastating attack.
The bombing came just as Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad for an unannounced visit that was to include meetings with top Iraqi government officials, leaders of influential Iraqi factions and the senior U.S. military commander here. Cheney's visit was aimed at encouraging rival Iraqi factions to work together to overcome their divisions to work together to end the conflict.
The explosion in Irbil, 215 miles north of Baghdad, underscored how even relatively safe areas of the country were not immune from the violence. Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, had been spared much of the violence wracking the rest of Iraq. The Interior Ministry building was badly damaged. Kurdish television showed rubble laying in piles and twisted metal beams. Rescue workers reached into the wreckage to pull out one of the victims of the blast. Windows were blown out down the street and wreckage was scattered nearly 100 yards away.
The nearby security headquarters was also damaged. Zariyan Othman, the Kurdish health minister, said 19 people were killed and 80 were wounded, including five who were in serious condition. Hamza Ahmed, a spokesman for the Irbil governor's office, said the dead and wounded included police and civilians.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman blamed the attack on Ansar al-Sunnah, a Sunni Arab insurgent group, and Ansar al-Islam, a mostly Kurdish militant group with ties to al-Qaida in Iraq. Ansar al-Islam has been blamed for a number of attacks, including attempts to assassinate Kurdish officials. Othman said authorities learned that insurgents were planning a large attack a week ago when police arrested a militant cell in the town of Sulaimaniyah.
"During questioning they confessed that were getting training lessons in a neighboring country and that was
Iran," he said. The last major attack in Irbil took place Feb. 1, 2004, when twin suicide bombers killed 109 people in two Kurdish party offices. Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for that attack. "Kurdistan is a safe region and this will have its affect on trade, and companies will fear coming to this region," Othman said.
The bombing came just as Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad for an unannounced visit that was to include meetings with top Iraqi government officials, leaders of influential Iraqi factions and the senior U.S. military commander here. Cheney's visit was aimed at encouraging rival Iraqi factions to work together to overcome their divisions to work together to end the conflict.
The explosion in Irbil, 215 miles north of Baghdad, underscored how even relatively safe areas of the country were not immune from the violence. Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, had been spared much of the violence wracking the rest of Iraq. The Interior Ministry building was badly damaged. Kurdish television showed rubble laying in piles and twisted metal beams. Rescue workers reached into the wreckage to pull out one of the victims of the blast. Windows were blown out down the street and wreckage was scattered nearly 100 yards away.
The nearby security headquarters was also damaged. Zariyan Othman, the Kurdish health minister, said 19 people were killed and 80 were wounded, including five who were in serious condition. Hamza Ahmed, a spokesman for the Irbil governor's office, said the dead and wounded included police and civilians.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman blamed the attack on Ansar al-Sunnah, a Sunni Arab insurgent group, and Ansar al-Islam, a mostly Kurdish militant group with ties to al-Qaida in Iraq. Ansar al-Islam has been blamed for a number of attacks, including attempts to assassinate Kurdish officials. Othman said authorities learned that insurgents were planning a large attack a week ago when police arrested a militant cell in the town of Sulaimaniyah.
"During questioning they confessed that were getting training lessons in a neighboring country and that was
Iran," he said. The last major attack in Irbil took place Feb. 1, 2004, when twin suicide bombers killed 109 people in two Kurdish party offices. Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for that attack. "Kurdistan is a safe region and this will have its affect on trade, and companies will fear coming to this region," Othman said.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, Dick Cheney, Irbil, Kurdistan, Ministry of Interior, suicide truck bomber, Zariyan Othman
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(Reuters) - Security developments in Iraq as of 0900 GMT on Tuesday:
* denotes a new or updated item. Click on link for further information.
* BAQUBA - Police found the bodies of seven people shot in different districts of the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
* TAL AFAR - Four al Qaeda militants were killed and 21 detained, including two leaders, in clashes with Iraqi security forces in the town of Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police Brigadier Ibrahim al-Jouburi said.
* TAJI - Police discovered the body of an 11-year-old boy with his throat slit in Sab al Bor, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. A local al Qaeda cell was suspected.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 14 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Monday, police said.
KIRKUK - A U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when a large truck bomb exploded at a police station in Kirkuk on Monday, the U.S. military said. The blast killed two Iraqi police officers and 10 civilians and wounded 17 policemen and 180 civilians. Kirkuk is 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad.
KIRKUK - Gunmen killed a policeman in Kirkuk, police said.
MOSUL - The bodies of three people were found shot on Monday in different districts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
ISHAQI - A roadside bomb exploded near the motorcade of Aamir Abdul-Hadi, the mayor of Balad, on Monday, wounding him along with five guards near the town of Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
* BAQUBA - Police found the bodies of seven people shot in different districts of the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
* TAL AFAR - Four al Qaeda militants were killed and 21 detained, including two leaders, in clashes with Iraqi security forces in the town of Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police Brigadier Ibrahim al-Jouburi said.
* TAJI - Police discovered the body of an 11-year-old boy with his throat slit in Sab al Bor, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. A local al Qaeda cell was suspected.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 14 people were found shot in different districts of Baghdad on Monday, police said.
KIRKUK - A U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when a large truck bomb exploded at a police station in Kirkuk on Monday, the U.S. military said. The blast killed two Iraqi police officers and 10 civilians and wounded 17 policemen and 180 civilians. Kirkuk is 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad.
KIRKUK - Gunmen killed a policeman in Kirkuk, police said.
MOSUL - The bodies of three people were found shot on Monday in different districts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
ISHAQI - A roadside bomb exploded near the motorcade of Aamir Abdul-Hadi, the mayor of Balad, on Monday, wounding him along with five guards near the town of Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Labels: Aamir Abdul-Hadi, Baghdad, Baqouba, Ishaqi, Kirkuk, Mosul, roadside bombs, suicide truck bomber, Taji
Monday, April 02, 2007
Truck bomb kills 13 in Kirkuk as 19 men kidnapped from Shia village
Security
(Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed 12 people and wounded 137 others in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday in the latest attack by insurgents using explosives-laden trucks. Many of the victims were women and children at a nearby school, police said. Insurgents have hit a string of northern Iraqi towns in the past 10 days in bombings that have killed hundreds of people. Officials have blamed the attacks on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
In other violence, the bodies of 19 men from a Shi'ite village kidnapped by gunmen at a fake checkpoint north of Baghdad were found on Monday, police said. All had been shot in the head in one of the biggest kidnappings in months. U.S. commanders say insurgents are shifting the focus of their attacks outside Baghdad because of a nearly seven-week-old crackdown in the capital. The U.S.-Iraqi offensive is seen as a final attempt to halt Iraq's plunge into sectarian civil war.
Police said the attacker in Kirkuk rammed his vehicle into the main gate of the police criminal investigation department and detonated the bomb, triggering a blast that echoed across the ethnically mixed city. The building was partially destroyed. In the mass kidnapping, gunmen seized the 19 men from a Shi'ite village near the city of Baquba after stopping cars at a fake checkpoint on Sunday. The bodies were found not far from Baquba, which lies 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. A car bomb also killed two people and wounded nine others in the southern Bayaa district of Baghdad, police said.
In other violence, the bodies of 19 men from a Shi'ite village kidnapped by gunmen at a fake checkpoint north of Baghdad were found on Monday, police said. All had been shot in the head in one of the biggest kidnappings in months. U.S. commanders say insurgents are shifting the focus of their attacks outside Baghdad because of a nearly seven-week-old crackdown in the capital. The U.S.-Iraqi offensive is seen as a final attempt to halt Iraq's plunge into sectarian civil war.
Police said the attacker in Kirkuk rammed his vehicle into the main gate of the police criminal investigation department and detonated the bomb, triggering a blast that echoed across the ethnically mixed city. The building was partially destroyed. In the mass kidnapping, gunmen seized the 19 men from a Shi'ite village near the city of Baquba after stopping cars at a fake checkpoint on Sunday. The bodies were found not far from Baquba, which lies 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. A car bomb also killed two people and wounded nine others in the southern Bayaa district of Baghdad, police said.
Labels: Baghdad, Baqouba, car bombs, kidnapping, Kirkuk, suicide truck bomber
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(Reuters) - Security developments in Iraq at 1500 GMT on Sunday (follow link for full list).
* denotes new or updated item.
* MOSUL - Two suicide truck bombs killed two people and wounded 17 when they exploded at an Iraqi army base east of the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (242 miles) north of Baghdad, on Sunday, police said. Police said the two dead were civilians while most of the wounded were soldiers.
* BAGHDAD - Omar al-Jubouri, a member of the Sunni Islamic Party and a parliament member, escaped a roadside bomb attack in the Yarmouk district in western Baghdad. No one in his motorcade was hurt, the office of the Islamic Party said. Police said two of his guards were wounded.
* denotes new or updated item.
* MOSUL - Two suicide truck bombs killed two people and wounded 17 when they exploded at an Iraqi army base east of the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (242 miles) north of Baghdad, on Sunday, police said. Police said the two dead were civilians while most of the wounded were soldiers.
* BAGHDAD - Omar al-Jubouri, a member of the Sunni Islamic Party and a parliament member, escaped a roadside bomb attack in the Yarmouk district in western Baghdad. No one in his motorcade was hurt, the office of the Islamic Party said. Police said two of his guards were wounded.
JIBLA - Gunmen killed an official in the office of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the town of Jibla, near the southern city of Hilla, on Saturday, police said. Gunmen also killed the guard of a Sunni mosque and set the mosque on fire in Jibla, police said.
Labels: Iraqi Army base, Iraqi Islamic Party, Jibla, Mosul, Omar al-Jubouri, suicide truck bomber, Sunni mosques
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Truck bomb hits Dora police station killing many
Security, Insurgency
(AP) - A suicide truck bomber with explosives hidden under a load of bricks struck a police station in a mainly Sunni area in southern Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 23, police said. The blast could be heard across the city and sent up a huge plume of black smoke over the skyline. The attacker detonated his explosives at the concrete blast walls protecting the gate of the Dora police station because he could not go any farther, but the building was heavily damaged, police said.
Those killed included four policemen and seven civilians, including some detainees, while 15 officers and eight civilians were wounded, according to the authorities. Policemen were searching the debris for survivors or more victims, including detainees who were being held in a room inside the station. The 10:45 a.m. explosion occurred nearly three hours after two mortar shells landed on a Shiite enclave elsewhere in Dora, killing at least three people and wounding seven, police said.
Police Cpl. Hussam Ali, who witnessed the blast from a nearby guard post, said the attacker took advantage of construction work being done inside the station and was able to circumvent the tight security to reach the main gate by hiding the explosives under bricks. He said trucks had been coming in and out all day so the attack vehicle did not raise suspicions. The blast caused part of the building to collapse and knocked down blast barriers over a car parked near the gate. "We were very cautious, but this time we were taken by surprise," Ali said. "The insurgents are inventing new methods to hurt us."
Those killed included four policemen and seven civilians, including some detainees, while 15 officers and eight civilians were wounded, according to the authorities. Policemen were searching the debris for survivors or more victims, including detainees who were being held in a room inside the station. The 10:45 a.m. explosion occurred nearly three hours after two mortar shells landed on a Shiite enclave elsewhere in Dora, killing at least three people and wounding seven, police said.
Police Cpl. Hussam Ali, who witnessed the blast from a nearby guard post, said the attacker took advantage of construction work being done inside the station and was able to circumvent the tight security to reach the main gate by hiding the explosives under bricks. He said trucks had been coming in and out all day so the attack vehicle did not raise suspicions. The blast caused part of the building to collapse and knocked down blast barriers over a car parked near the gate. "We were very cautious, but this time we were taken by surprise," Ali said. "The insurgents are inventing new methods to hurt us."
COMMENT: This is a new tactic, showing that the insurgents are increasingly adapting their tactics skillfully. There is so much reconstruction going on that it is impossible to vet every casual worker and check every truck, plus many do not have the resources to do so. If anything, it is somewhat surprising that this hasn't happened before. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Dora police station, suicide truck bomber
