Attack targets Baghdad hotel compounds, kills at least 36
Source: Washington Post
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A coordinated attack on Monday, Jan. 25, hit three hotel compounds in the Iraqi capital known for housing foreign journalists, leaving dozens dead and injuring scores of others. The bombings came on the same day as the execution of "Chemical Ali," the notorious cousin of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, January 25, 2010; 2:16 PM
BAGHDAD -- A coordinated attack of vehicle bombs on Monday ripped through the perimeters of three hotel compounds known for housing foreign journalists, destroying a nearby apartment building and leaving at least 36 people dead.
The bombers hit the Sheraton Hotel compound, which also houses the Babylon Hotel; and the al-Hamra Hotel compound, where The Washington Post bureau is located. Security officials said at least 71 people were wounded. Three of the injured were Iraqi employees of the Post.
The coordinated blasts were the fourth high-profile bombings in Baghdad since August, and the first major attack in more than a month. Citizens and government officials have been bracing for an increase in violence leading up to the March 7 elections.
It was not immediately clear whether there was any connection between the bombings Monday and the execution, also Monday, of "Chemical Ali," the notorious cousin of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. A spokesman for the Iraqi government said Ali Hassan al-Majid was put to death for orchestrating the poison gas attacks that killed more than 5,000 Kurds in 1988.
The first blast was detonated about 3:40 p.m. local time (7:40 a.m. in Washington), from a vehicle that was driven close to the entrance of the Sheraton compound. The shock wave blew open doors and sent waves of dust into the nearby offices of Reuters news service, the organization reported.
A cloud of debris rose from the blast site, along Abu Nawas Street just across the Tigris River from the Green Zone, as ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene and police and soldiers blocked off entry, Reuters said. Television images showed that the towering concrete blast walls intended to protect the Sheraton -- which primarily houses the offices of media organizations and private companies -- had fallen like dominoes.
The attack at the Babylon hotel came from a parked vehicle, authorities said.
At the Hamra compound, witnesses said the attack began when two men in business suits opened fire on the security checkpoint. As guards retreated from the bullets, they released the gate lock, and a minibus laden with explosives drove past the blast walls. The guards shot the driver of the minibus, but the bomb ripped through an apartment building and shattered the glass and walls of homes and hotels in the surrounding area.
By 5 p.m. local time, emergency workers had pulled as many as 20 women, men and children from the rubble of the apartment building. Emergency workers covered the dead in blankets. A woman screamed outside, her face bloody, as she watched men search through the ruins for her family. The only sign of the minibus that had detonated was a gaping crater, surrounded by charred cars and burned body parts.
Just in front of the hotel, Ahmed Attiyah, 36, wept uncontrollably. In his hand, he held identification cards belonging to his dead friend. Attiyah said he saw half of his friend's body on the ground after the blast. He knew who it was, he said, because he recognized the jacket.
Nearby, a hotel balcony was covered in the blood of a man who'd been standing just above the blast.
"Nobody understands our pain," a woman screamed.
Wissam Mahmoud, who works on one of the hotel compounds, said he saw the shootout from the balcony of the hotel. The explosion threw him across the room. "I thought this was the safest place in Baghdad," said Mahmoud, his arm in a sling. "No place is safe."
The Post's bureau is located in a house on the Hamra property. The windows of the house were shattered in the blast, and much of the bureau is in tatters. Three Post employees were wounded by flying glass. Two of them sustained head injuries, and a third has broken ribs and a broken arm. All three are conscious, and the injuries do not appear life-threatening.
Wilgoren reported from Washington.
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