Post by Salem6 on Oct 27, 2003 7:45:57 GMT
Two large explosions have struck central Baghdad.
Witnesses said an ambulance exploded as it entered the gates of a building used by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
At least three people were killed and several injured.
About 15 minutes later another blast exploded in the Shaab district in northern Baghdad.
The first blast went off near the ICRC
Local people said the building which was attacked was a police station.
The blasts come a day after a rocket attack on the Rashid hotel, where a top US official was staying. That incident left one person dead and 17 others injured.
Grey smoke billowed over the scene of the first blast, which happened at about 0845 (0545 GMT). Several cars were on fire.
Ambulances rushed to the scene, as US troops moved to seal off the area.
One witness said the blast knocked him off his feet and "there was huge smoke from the area."
Both attacks were believed to be suicide bombings.
The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has warned that coalition forces are facing increasingly sophisticated attacks from those opposed to a foreign military presence in the country.
Mr Bremer said on Sunday there was evidence that what he described as terrorist groups were getting better organised and using more sophisticated approaches.
Booby-trapped
On Sunday, an attack on the Rashid hotel, one of the most heavily guarded sites in Baghdad, killed a US colonel and wounded 17 people.
US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was staying there at the time, escaped unhurt.
The attackers appear to have driven a van into a nearby park where they dropped off a trailer containing a rocket launcher, disguised as a generator, about 400 metres from the hotel.
They then set off a timing device and fled, leaving the rockets to launch at the hotel a few minutes later.
Up to eight rockets were fired at the Hotel Rashid
Another 11 rockets were still inside the launcher which was booby-trapped, US defence officials said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted the US did not expect such intense and sustained attacks in Iraq.
"We did not expect it would be quite this intense this long," Mr Powell told NBC television.
Wolfowitz unhurt
Late on Sunday, just hours after Mr Powell's comments, two blasts detonated near the US-led coalition's HQ.
A military spokesman said the explosions had gone off in the capital's Green Zone, which also includes the Rashid hotel.
MAJOR BOMB ATTACKS
12 October: Suicide car bomb outside Baghdad Hotel - six killed
9 October: Suicide car bomb hits police station in the northeast Shia district Sadr City - at least 10 killed
29 August: Car bomb at mosque near Najaf - 125 killed including Shia Islam top cleric
19 August: UN headquarters, Baghdad - 23 killed, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, veteran official
7 August: Jordanian Embassy - at least 14 killed
Following the hotel blast, the US deputy defence secretary appeared composed after descending a stairwell filled with thick smoke and blood stains with a fire alarm blaring, witnesses said.
But the architect of the US war on terror seemed tense and shaken when he addressed journalists a few hours later.
He vowed that the US would not be cowed into abandoning Iraq.
The attack was likely to have been planned well in advance and not targeted at Mr Wolfowitz, according to the US general in charge of security in Baghdad, Brigadier General Martin Dempsey.
"There is no question that it required some degree of preparations, probably lasting over a couple of months," General Dempsey told a news conference.
There has even been suggestion that the attack may have been rehearsed.
General Dempsey accused the attackers of trying to "discredit" recent moves by the US-led coalition to improve security, including the opening of a key bridge and the lifting of a night-time curfew for the start of Ramadan.
Video:-
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39495000/rm/_39495517_baghdad07_campanale_vi.ram
Witnesses said an ambulance exploded as it entered the gates of a building used by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
At least three people were killed and several injured.
About 15 minutes later another blast exploded in the Shaab district in northern Baghdad.
The first blast went off near the ICRC
Local people said the building which was attacked was a police station.
The blasts come a day after a rocket attack on the Rashid hotel, where a top US official was staying. That incident left one person dead and 17 others injured.
Grey smoke billowed over the scene of the first blast, which happened at about 0845 (0545 GMT). Several cars were on fire.
Ambulances rushed to the scene, as US troops moved to seal off the area.
One witness said the blast knocked him off his feet and "there was huge smoke from the area."
Both attacks were believed to be suicide bombings.
The US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has warned that coalition forces are facing increasingly sophisticated attacks from those opposed to a foreign military presence in the country.
Mr Bremer said on Sunday there was evidence that what he described as terrorist groups were getting better organised and using more sophisticated approaches.
Booby-trapped
On Sunday, an attack on the Rashid hotel, one of the most heavily guarded sites in Baghdad, killed a US colonel and wounded 17 people.
US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was staying there at the time, escaped unhurt.
The attackers appear to have driven a van into a nearby park where they dropped off a trailer containing a rocket launcher, disguised as a generator, about 400 metres from the hotel.
They then set off a timing device and fled, leaving the rockets to launch at the hotel a few minutes later.
Up to eight rockets were fired at the Hotel Rashid
Another 11 rockets were still inside the launcher which was booby-trapped, US defence officials said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted the US did not expect such intense and sustained attacks in Iraq.
"We did not expect it would be quite this intense this long," Mr Powell told NBC television.
Wolfowitz unhurt
Late on Sunday, just hours after Mr Powell's comments, two blasts detonated near the US-led coalition's HQ.
A military spokesman said the explosions had gone off in the capital's Green Zone, which also includes the Rashid hotel.
MAJOR BOMB ATTACKS
12 October: Suicide car bomb outside Baghdad Hotel - six killed
9 October: Suicide car bomb hits police station in the northeast Shia district Sadr City - at least 10 killed
29 August: Car bomb at mosque near Najaf - 125 killed including Shia Islam top cleric
19 August: UN headquarters, Baghdad - 23 killed, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, veteran official
7 August: Jordanian Embassy - at least 14 killed
Following the hotel blast, the US deputy defence secretary appeared composed after descending a stairwell filled with thick smoke and blood stains with a fire alarm blaring, witnesses said.
But the architect of the US war on terror seemed tense and shaken when he addressed journalists a few hours later.
He vowed that the US would not be cowed into abandoning Iraq.
The attack was likely to have been planned well in advance and not targeted at Mr Wolfowitz, according to the US general in charge of security in Baghdad, Brigadier General Martin Dempsey.
"There is no question that it required some degree of preparations, probably lasting over a couple of months," General Dempsey told a news conference.
There has even been suggestion that the attack may have been rehearsed.
General Dempsey accused the attackers of trying to "discredit" recent moves by the US-led coalition to improve security, including the opening of a key bridge and the lifting of a night-time curfew for the start of Ramadan.
Video:-
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39495000/rm/_39495517_baghdad07_campanale_vi.ram
