Post by Salem6 on Jan 18, 2004 9:53:19 GMT
At least 18 people are believed to have been killed in a suspected suicide car bombing outside the US headquarters in the centre of the Iraqi capital.
The huge blast occurred at about 0800 (0500GMT) near Assassin's Gate - a heavily fortified entrance to one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.
The blast went off as Iraqis waited for appointments
Most victims are thought to have been Iraqis waiting to meet US officials.
It is the deadliest attack since New Year's Eve and comes as the US tries to persuade the UN to return to Iraq.
Force of the blast
One witness who was driving by said the explosion lifted his car into the air.
Cars were set on fire in the blast, the force of which was felt across the city.
The US military says 18 people were believed killed by the blast: 16 were Iraqi civilians and two were contractors working for the US Defense Department.
MAJOR ATTACKS SINCE 1 MAY
18 January 2004: 18 reported killed outside coalition HQ, Baghdad
31 December 2003: Eight killed in Baghad restaurant blast
14 December: Car bomb at police station kills 17 in Khalidiya, west of Baghdad
12 November: 26 die in suicide attack on Italian police base in Nasiriya
2 November: 16 US soldiers die as Chinook helicopter downed
27 Oct: Red Cross and other buildings in Baghdad bombed, more than 30 killed
29 Aug: Mosque near Najaf bombed, at least 80 dead including Shia Islam's top cleric in Iraq
19 Aug: UN headquarters in Baghdad bombed, 23 killed including head of mission
List covers attacks since US declared war effectively over
Some 60 people were injured, six of them were reported to be Americans, two of them soldiers.
American officials were "assuming this was a suicide bomb," US spokesman Brigadier-General Mark Hertling was quoted as saying.
According to a senior Iraqi police official who spoke to the Associated Press, the blast was caused by a lone driver.
Most of the dead were inside cars, one Coalition official said. "They didn't have a chance" in the face of a huge fireball, he said.
"I was lining up for a job when a Land Cruiser and another one went off," witness Haidar Hanoun said.
"It was very strong."
US soldiers are inspecting the tangled wreckage left by the bomb and police are out with sniffer dogs, reports the BBC's Caroline Hawley from the scene of the blast. The two main bridges across the River Tigris have been closed.
The last big car bomb attack in Baghdad was on New Year's Eve, when eight people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a busy restaurant in the city centre.
UN role
The blast comes a day after a bomb attack on a patrol north of Baghdad took the number of American troops killed since the war began in Iraq in March last year to 500.
Meanwhile as debate continues over the issue of how Iraq should be run in future, the US says it intends to ask the United Nations to back its plans for the transfer of power.
The US administrator Paul Bremer is to meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday in a drive to get the UN to return to Iraq.
He is also expected to seek UN help in convincing the Shia majority that US proposals for an unelected transitional government are the best way to meet a July deadline for a handover of sovereignty.
Video:-
The BBC's Caroline Hawley
"A big blow to Coalition hopes"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39752000/rm/_39752099_iraq08_hawley_vi.ram
The huge blast occurred at about 0800 (0500GMT) near Assassin's Gate - a heavily fortified entrance to one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.
The blast went off as Iraqis waited for appointments
Most victims are thought to have been Iraqis waiting to meet US officials.
It is the deadliest attack since New Year's Eve and comes as the US tries to persuade the UN to return to Iraq.
Force of the blast
One witness who was driving by said the explosion lifted his car into the air.
Cars were set on fire in the blast, the force of which was felt across the city.
The US military says 18 people were believed killed by the blast: 16 were Iraqi civilians and two were contractors working for the US Defense Department.
MAJOR ATTACKS SINCE 1 MAY
18 January 2004: 18 reported killed outside coalition HQ, Baghdad
31 December 2003: Eight killed in Baghad restaurant blast
14 December: Car bomb at police station kills 17 in Khalidiya, west of Baghdad
12 November: 26 die in suicide attack on Italian police base in Nasiriya
2 November: 16 US soldiers die as Chinook helicopter downed
27 Oct: Red Cross and other buildings in Baghdad bombed, more than 30 killed
29 Aug: Mosque near Najaf bombed, at least 80 dead including Shia Islam's top cleric in Iraq
19 Aug: UN headquarters in Baghdad bombed, 23 killed including head of mission
List covers attacks since US declared war effectively over
Some 60 people were injured, six of them were reported to be Americans, two of them soldiers.
American officials were "assuming this was a suicide bomb," US spokesman Brigadier-General Mark Hertling was quoted as saying.
According to a senior Iraqi police official who spoke to the Associated Press, the blast was caused by a lone driver.
Most of the dead were inside cars, one Coalition official said. "They didn't have a chance" in the face of a huge fireball, he said.
"I was lining up for a job when a Land Cruiser and another one went off," witness Haidar Hanoun said.
"It was very strong."
US soldiers are inspecting the tangled wreckage left by the bomb and police are out with sniffer dogs, reports the BBC's Caroline Hawley from the scene of the blast. The two main bridges across the River Tigris have been closed.
The last big car bomb attack in Baghdad was on New Year's Eve, when eight people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a busy restaurant in the city centre.
UN role
The blast comes a day after a bomb attack on a patrol north of Baghdad took the number of American troops killed since the war began in Iraq in March last year to 500.
Meanwhile as debate continues over the issue of how Iraq should be run in future, the US says it intends to ask the United Nations to back its plans for the transfer of power.
The US administrator Paul Bremer is to meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday in a drive to get the UN to return to Iraq.
He is also expected to seek UN help in convincing the Shia majority that US proposals for an unelected transitional government are the best way to meet a July deadline for a handover of sovereignty.
Video:-
The BBC's Caroline Hawley
"A big blow to Coalition hopes"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39752000/rm/_39752099_iraq08_hawley_vi.ram