Post by Salem6 on Feb 11, 2004 10:03:42 GMT
A powerful car bomb has exploded in the centre of Baghdad, killing 36 people - all Iraqis.
A US military spokesman said it appeared to be a suicide attack just outside an army recruiting centre.
Iraqis seen to be collaborating with the coalition are being targeted
The blast comes less than 24 hours after a suicide bombing at a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad that killed at least 50 people.
Insurgents appear to have changed tactics, now targeting Iraqi security forces, a US military spokesman said.
Colonel Ralph Baker said the militants were keen to launch "sensational" attacks to coincide with this week's visit to Iraq by a United Nations team assessing conditions for possible elections.
'Apocalyptic'
Wednesday's explosion occurred about 0740 local time (0440 GMT).
US spokesman Colonel Baker said from the scene that a car, loaded with 135-225kg (300-500 pounds) of explosives, had been driven up to the recruiting centre by a single male.
"It was a suicide attack," he said, "aimed strictly at Iraqis."
RECENT MAJOR BOMB ATTACKS
11 February: 36 dead at Baghdad army recruiting centre
10 February: At least 35 killed in attack on police station in Iskandariya
1 February: At least 100 killed by twin suicide bombings during celebrations in Kurdish city of Irbil
18 January: 18 reported killed outside coalition HQ, Baghdad
14 December: Car bomb at police station kills 17 in Khalidiya, west of Baghdad
"I was driving and just 10 metres in front of me, a car was driving slowly, suddenly he exploded... I hit a tree," Mohammad Jassim, who had cuts on his head, told Reuters news agency.
"I saw a white Oldsmobile slowly approaching. It ran over some people and exploded. I was blown up in the air and saw fire and body parts all around me," said Ghasan Sameer, 32, an officer in the new Iraqi army, who was hospitalised with broken legs and shrapnel wounds.
The BBC's Barbara Plett reports from the nearby Karkh hospital seeing an ambulance drive up carrying plastic bags filled with body parts.
Bodies covered with bloodstained cloth and plastic inside have been put in refrigerated containers outside the hospital building.
A security guard who was searching people going into the army recruitment office when the blast occurred described the scene as "apocalyptic".
'Soft targets'
The latest attack took place near the Green Zone, the high-security area where the US-led administration has its headquarters.
The BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Baghdad, says it is another blow to the creation of the institutions of the new Iraq.
It shows the militants are going after well-selected, soft but high-profile targets and hitting them hard, our correspondent says.
But it also shows that high rates of unemployment have not deterred Iraqis from applying for jobs with the coalition - even though militants have warned they will be targets, he says.
US officials recently warned against what they described as an al-Qaeda plot to ignite violence between the majority Shia Muslim and the Sunni Muslims who held power under the former Iraqi regime.
There was "evidence to suggest those elements are presents in Iraq," US staff Sgt Shane Slaughter told the BBC.
Video:-
The BBC's Peter Greste
"Whoever was behind this attack chose their target carefully"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39846000/rm/_39846331_iraq09_greste_vi.ram
A US military spokesman said it appeared to be a suicide attack just outside an army recruiting centre.
Iraqis seen to be collaborating with the coalition are being targeted
The blast comes less than 24 hours after a suicide bombing at a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad that killed at least 50 people.
Insurgents appear to have changed tactics, now targeting Iraqi security forces, a US military spokesman said.
Colonel Ralph Baker said the militants were keen to launch "sensational" attacks to coincide with this week's visit to Iraq by a United Nations team assessing conditions for possible elections.
'Apocalyptic'
Wednesday's explosion occurred about 0740 local time (0440 GMT).
US spokesman Colonel Baker said from the scene that a car, loaded with 135-225kg (300-500 pounds) of explosives, had been driven up to the recruiting centre by a single male.
"It was a suicide attack," he said, "aimed strictly at Iraqis."
RECENT MAJOR BOMB ATTACKS
11 February: 36 dead at Baghdad army recruiting centre
10 February: At least 35 killed in attack on police station in Iskandariya
1 February: At least 100 killed by twin suicide bombings during celebrations in Kurdish city of Irbil
18 January: 18 reported killed outside coalition HQ, Baghdad
14 December: Car bomb at police station kills 17 in Khalidiya, west of Baghdad
"I was driving and just 10 metres in front of me, a car was driving slowly, suddenly he exploded... I hit a tree," Mohammad Jassim, who had cuts on his head, told Reuters news agency.
"I saw a white Oldsmobile slowly approaching. It ran over some people and exploded. I was blown up in the air and saw fire and body parts all around me," said Ghasan Sameer, 32, an officer in the new Iraqi army, who was hospitalised with broken legs and shrapnel wounds.
The BBC's Barbara Plett reports from the nearby Karkh hospital seeing an ambulance drive up carrying plastic bags filled with body parts.
Bodies covered with bloodstained cloth and plastic inside have been put in refrigerated containers outside the hospital building.
A security guard who was searching people going into the army recruitment office when the blast occurred described the scene as "apocalyptic".
'Soft targets'
The latest attack took place near the Green Zone, the high-security area where the US-led administration has its headquarters.
The BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Baghdad, says it is another blow to the creation of the institutions of the new Iraq.
It shows the militants are going after well-selected, soft but high-profile targets and hitting them hard, our correspondent says.
But it also shows that high rates of unemployment have not deterred Iraqis from applying for jobs with the coalition - even though militants have warned they will be targets, he says.
US officials recently warned against what they described as an al-Qaeda plot to ignite violence between the majority Shia Muslim and the Sunni Muslims who held power under the former Iraqi regime.
There was "evidence to suggest those elements are presents in Iraq," US staff Sgt Shane Slaughter told the BBC.
Video:-
The BBC's Peter Greste
"Whoever was behind this attack chose their target carefully"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39846000/rm/_39846331_iraq09_greste_vi.ram