Car Bombs Kill 17 in Iraq
BAGHDAD — A series of apparently coordinated bombings targeting a meeting for national reconciliation killed 17 people and wounded 60 others in western Iraq on Sunday, but they did not injure the officials who were at the gathering, the authorities said.
The bombings, which occurred in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, were the latest in a string of deadly attacks in the province during the past few months that have targeted tribal leaders and members of Iraqi security forces and Awakening Councils.
The province had been among the more peaceful in Iraq during the past two years after many tribal leaders dropped allegiances to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, an extremist Sunni Arab group, and joined Awakening Councils that partnered with the American military and the Iraqi government.
The first bomb on Sunday exploded about 11 a.m. local time outside the headquarters of Ramadi’s main government building, where the provincial governor and council have offices.
Iraqi police said a car in a parking lot adjacent to the building was detonated as a meeting took place inside on reconciliation efforts between the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and local Sunni Arabs.
Among those attending the meeting was Zuhair Chalabi, a representative of the National Reconciliation Committee, a group formed by Mr. Maliki to bring together various factions after sectarian warfare erupted in 2006. Mr. Chalabi was not injured, officials said.
About seven minutes after the first bomb, a second car in the parking lot exploded in an attempt to injure security force members and others who had responded to the original explosion, security officials said.
It was the second bomb that caused most of the casualties, officials said.
The building was protected from the explosions by blast walls that had been recently fortified. In September, the provincial council had voted to remove the walls, but the recent spate of violence led it to change course and erect even more barriers.
Many of the victims of the bombings were taken to Ramadi General Hospital.
About one hour after the first two bombings, a man driving a car filled with explosives attempted to speed through a security checkpoint near the hospital, Iraqi police said.
He was shot by a police officer at the checkpoint but managed to explode the car, killing himself and wounding two others, officials said.
Omar al-Jawoshy, Mohammed Hussein and Sa’ad al-Izzi contributed reporting from Baghdad, and employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Ramadi and Falluja.
BAGHDAD — A series of apparently coordinated bombings targeting a meeting for national reconciliation killed 17 people and wounded 60 others in western Iraq on Sunday, but they did not injure the officials who were at the gathering, the authorities said.
The bombings, which occurred in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, were the latest in a string of deadly attacks in the province during the past few months that have targeted tribal leaders and members of Iraqi security forces and Awakening Councils.
The province had been among the more peaceful in Iraq during the past two years after many tribal leaders dropped allegiances to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, an extremist Sunni Arab group, and joined Awakening Councils that partnered with the American military and the Iraqi government.
The first bomb on Sunday exploded about 11 a.m. local time outside the headquarters of Ramadi’s main government building, where the provincial governor and council have offices.
Iraqi police said a car in a parking lot adjacent to the building was detonated as a meeting took place inside on reconciliation efforts between the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and local Sunni Arabs.
Among those attending the meeting was Zuhair Chalabi, a representative of the National Reconciliation Committee, a group formed by Mr. Maliki to bring together various factions after sectarian warfare erupted in 2006. Mr. Chalabi was not injured, officials said.
About seven minutes after the first bomb, a second car in the parking lot exploded in an attempt to injure security force members and others who had responded to the original explosion, security officials said.
It was the second bomb that caused most of the casualties, officials said.
The building was protected from the explosions by blast walls that had been recently fortified. In September, the provincial council had voted to remove the walls, but the recent spate of violence led it to change course and erect even more barriers.
Many of the victims of the bombings were taken to Ramadi General Hospital.
About one hour after the first two bombings, a man driving a car filled with explosives attempted to speed through a security checkpoint near the hospital, Iraqi police said.
He was shot by a police officer at the checkpoint but managed to explode the car, killing himself and wounding two others, officials said.
Omar al-Jawoshy, Mohammed Hussein and Sa’ad al-Izzi contributed reporting from Baghdad, and employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Ramadi and Falluja.
Source: New York Times
« Back to World News
Related News
-
Coordinated Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 121 Oct 11, 2009 @ 08:45 AM
BAGHDAD — A series of devastating car bombings rocked Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 121 people and wounding hundreds more, according to preliminary accounts by witnesses, the police and hospital officials.
-
Bombings kill 8 US soldiers in Afghanistan Oct 11, 2009 @ 08:45 AM
KABUL -- October became the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan when two powerful bombs killed eight soldiers and an interpreter in separate attacks Tuesday.
-
Baghdad Suicide Car Bombs Kill More Than 150, Wound Hundreds Oct 11, 2009 @ 08:45 AM
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Twin suicide car bombs targetinggovernment buildings in central Baghdad killed more than 150people and wounded hundreds in one of the deadliest attacks inrecent years, the state-run Iraqi news agency said.
-
Blasts kill at least 3 in Iraq's Kerbala - police Oct 11, 2009 @ 08:45 AM
BAGHDAD, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Three explosions killed at least three people and wounded 40 in Iraq's Kerbala on Wednesday, security and health officials said, in a rare attack in one of the holiest cities for Shi'ite Muslims.
-
US experts train Iraqis to tackle bomb scourge Oct 11, 2009 @ 08:45 AM
CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The robot scout and the lumbering man in a sealed helmet bring space travel to mind, but in this Iraqi desert moonscape they are part of training for one of the most dangerous jobs on Earth.
