A suicide car bomber in Baghdad killed six people and destroyed Iraq’s forensics headquarters yesterday, officials said, a day after three huge minibus bombs targeting hotels killed dozens.
The explosion in the central neighborhood of Karrada also injured at least 45 people, with the toll expected to rise as many people were believed to be in the building at the time, an official said.
“The building collapsed soon after the explosion. Dozens of people usually work in the [forensics] institute,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A doctor at the Ibn Nafis hospital said that six bodies had been received and that 45 injured people had been admitted.
The attack was confirmed by Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad Major General Qassim Atta.
“At 10:45am a suicide bomber raced his vehicle towards the institute” and blew it up, Atta said.
He said the forensics institute had twice before been the target of bomb attacks.
The blast came a day after three huge and apparently coordinated minibus bombs targeted hotels in Baghdad, killing at least 36 people and wounding 71.
Iraqi politicians and US forces have warned of rising violence ahead of the March 7 vote, the second parliamentary ballot since the 2003 US-led invasion ousted former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein but ushered in a deadly and long-lasting insurgency.
The hotel bombings came on the same day the government announced that Saddam’s notorious cousin and henchman “Chemical” Ali Hassan al-Majid, a symbol of the fallen regime, had been executed.
Monday’s attacks differed from recent high-profile bombings in Baghdad in that they targeted hotels, one of the capital’s few remaining symbols of tourism, rather than government buildings.
Nearly 400 people were killed and more than 1,000 were wounded last year in coordinated vehicle bombings at government buildings, including the ministries of finance, foreign affairs and justice in August, October and December.
Insurgents, weakened in the past year, have in the past six months changed tactics and mounted successful attacks on “hard” targets such as government offices, rather than so-called soft targets in civilian areas.
ELECTION FEARS
There are widespread fears, in the wake of the bloody attacks to hit Baghdad in the second half of last year, that political violence will rise in the weeks leading up to the March vote.
The election is seen as a crucial step towards consolidating Iraq’s democracy and securing a complete US military exit by the end of next year, as planned.
However a bitter row has broken out in recent weeks after hundreds of candidates were banned from taking part because of their alleged links with Saddam, which could see Sunni Arabs marginalized from the political process.
The dispute has alarmed the US, and the latest bombings will add to Washington’s concerns.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said extremists were trying to upend progress toward democracy, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Iraqis to remain on a path to reconciliation despite persistent unrest that plagues the country.
HOTEL BLASTS
Monday’s hotel blasts were launched over a span of 15 minutes, shortly before Iraq announced it had hanged Saddam Hussein’s cousin and notorious henchman “Chemical Ali” and gave rise to speculation about possible links to the attacks.
The first explosion struck near the Sheraton Hotel, along the Abu Nawas esplanade across the Tigris River from the Green Zone. The force of the blast toppled a row of 3m, 7 tonne concrete blast walls protecting the site, tore cars apart and damaged a number of other buildings.
Twisted metal and shards of glass littered the lawns and courtyards of the popular fish restaurants along the river.
Although known in Baghdad as the Sheraton Ishtar, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc — owners of the Sheraton brand — pulled out of the hotel years ago.
Two other blasts followed minutes later, striking near the Babylon Hotel and Hamra Hotel, which is popular with Western journalists and foreign security contractors.
Militants in business suits walking alongside a suicide car bomb opened fire on a private security checkpoint at the Hamra, police and guards said. The hotel and the compound in which it is located is home to the Baghdad offices of several Western news organizations, including the Washington Post, McClatchy Newspapers, NBC and the Los Angeles Times.
No Westerners were reported killed or seriously injured in any of Monday’s three attacks.
“We took cover and started to shoot back,” said Abu Ahmed, a guard working at the hotel.
During the gun battle, the attackers opened the gate to the compound for the suicide car bomb, which then detonated, a. police official said.
Ahmed said the explosion set vehicles and nearby buildings on fire, leaving several bodies charred.
Initial tallies showed 16 of the victims were at the Hamra, 14 at the Sheraton, and the remaining seven died at the Babylon, including two policemen.
There was no claim of responsibility for the latest major attacks in Baghdad — about six weeks after a series of blasts killed 127 and caused an outcry against Iraq’s government for repeated security lapses as US troops prepare to withdraw their combat troops by the end of August.
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