12 die in Iraq suicide attack
Source: Agencies |
September 6, 2010, Monday
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SUICIDE bombers hit a Baghdad military headquarters yesterday and killed 12 people, two weeks after an attack on the same site pointed to the failure of Iraqi forces to plug even the most obvious holes in their security.
Baghdad has been on high alert as the United States declared the official end to its combat operations in Iraq last week, yet the militants still managed to attack an obvious target in the center of the city that has been struck very recently.
On August 17, al-Qaida linked suicide bomber blew himself up at the same east Baghdad military headquarters and killed 61 army recruits last in the deadliest act of violence in Baghdad in months.
Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said in a statement that 12 people were killed in yesterday's attack and 36 were injured. Five soldiers were among the dead.
In yesterday's attack a car bomb charged the building and exploded and then gunmen assaulted the headquarters, battling the building's guards for a 15 minutes in the middle of downtown Baghdad, according to police officials who said at least three militants were wearing explosives belts.
The bombers were headed to the building's entrance on foot but were shot by the guards before they could trigger their devices. One was only wounded and was in custody.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari confirmed that some of the gunmen were wearing explosives belts. He said they were planning a second blast.
"The plan was to strike twice," he said. "First with a car bomb and then with suicide bombers."
Yesterday's attack is an embarrassment for the officials in the capital where security has been high in past days as insurgents intensify their strikes on Iraqi police and soldiers to mark the change in the US mission.
The building attacked is the headquarters for the Iraqi Army's 11th Division and an army recruitment center. In the mid-August attack, al-Qaida boasted that its operative easily passed through checkpoints before detonating his explosives belt in a crowd of officers and recruits outside the building.
The Iraqi security forces are now solely responsible for protecting the country after President Barack Obama declared an end to US combat operations on Wednesday. Many, however, doubt that Iraq's police and army are a match for the well-armed insurgency determined to bring down the Shiite-led government.
Last week Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki put his nation on its highest level of alert for terror attacks.
Baghdad has been on high alert as the United States declared the official end to its combat operations in Iraq last week, yet the militants still managed to attack an obvious target in the center of the city that has been struck very recently.
On August 17, al-Qaida linked suicide bomber blew himself up at the same east Baghdad military headquarters and killed 61 army recruits last in the deadliest act of violence in Baghdad in months.
Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said in a statement that 12 people were killed in yesterday's attack and 36 were injured. Five soldiers were among the dead.
In yesterday's attack a car bomb charged the building and exploded and then gunmen assaulted the headquarters, battling the building's guards for a 15 minutes in the middle of downtown Baghdad, according to police officials who said at least three militants were wearing explosives belts.
The bombers were headed to the building's entrance on foot but were shot by the guards before they could trigger their devices. One was only wounded and was in custody.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari confirmed that some of the gunmen were wearing explosives belts. He said they were planning a second blast.
"The plan was to strike twice," he said. "First with a car bomb and then with suicide bombers."
Yesterday's attack is an embarrassment for the officials in the capital where security has been high in past days as insurgents intensify their strikes on Iraqi police and soldiers to mark the change in the US mission.
The building attacked is the headquarters for the Iraqi Army's 11th Division and an army recruitment center. In the mid-August attack, al-Qaida boasted that its operative easily passed through checkpoints before detonating his explosives belt in a crowd of officers and recruits outside the building.
The Iraqi security forces are now solely responsible for protecting the country after President Barack Obama declared an end to US combat operations on Wednesday. Many, however, doubt that Iraq's police and army are a match for the well-armed insurgency determined to bring down the Shiite-led government.
Last week Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki put his nation on its highest level of alert for terror attacks.
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