Assassination in Iraq

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Baghdad provincial governor shot dead

Truck bomb kills six in separate attack in Iraq capitol

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 3:12 a.m. ET Jan. 4, 2005

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen assassinated the governor of the Iraqi province that includes Baghdad on Tuesday, police officials said.

 

Ali al-Haidari was shot dead while in his car in Baghdad’s northern neighborhood of Hurriyah, said the police officials, who demanded anonymity. He was a target of another assassination attempt last year.

 

The officials said al-Haidari left his house in the western al-Jama’a neighborhood and when he arrived in al-Hurriyah gunmen riddled his car with bullets. He died instantly, they said.

 

Also on Tuesday, a suicide truck bomb exploded in central Baghdad, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more, police said.

 

The bomb exploded near the headquarters of an Iraqi National Guard barracks, not far from the site of an explosion Monday in front of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s party headquarters.

 

A U.S. Marine was reported killed in action Tuesday in the al-Anbar province west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

 

The military statement gave no further details. Anbar province includes the restive cities of Fallujah, where U.S. forces launched a major assault in November to drive out insurgents, and Ramadi.

 

Bloody day in Baghdad

Tuesday's violence came a day after a a series of deadly attacks in Baghdad. A roadside explosion and four car bombs — one near Allawi's party headquarters in Baghdad — killed at least 16 people as insurgents pressed their deadly campaign to disrupt national elections.

 

In a signal that the violence may be shaking the resolve of the interim Iraqi government, one senior Iraqi official said the planned Jan. 30 vote could be postponed.

 

A car bomb exploded late Monday at a U.S.-manned checkpoint to the Green Zone, the heavily fortified area that houses the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices, U.S. Embassy spokesman Bob Callahan said. U.S. troops surrounded a burning SUV at the scene.

 

Three bodies were seen burning inside the destroyed vehicle. The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.

 

Iraqi police Lt. Khalid Mohammed said the bomb targeted a U.S. nonmilitary convoy and there were casualties at the checkpoint, which is the main Green Zone exit for trips to Baghdad International Airport west of the city. American contractors and diplomats commonly make the journey along the dangerous airport road in SUVs.

 

Four other bombings occurred earlier Monday, targeting Iraqi security forces.

 

The deadliest attack happened in Balad, a city 50 miles north of Baghdad, where four guardsmen were killed and 14 were wounded, U.S. military spokesman Neal E. O’Brien said. The driver of the car also died.

 

“Anti-Iraqi forces continue to target the Iraqi National Guard” because the ING is creating conditions for “successful elections,” O’Brien said.

 

Balad also was the scene of a car bombing on Sunday that killed 22 Iraqi National Guards and their driver.

 

Allawi not present during attack

Elsewhere, an explosives-laden car driven by a suicide bomber exploded outside the offices of the Iraqi National Accord, the party of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, after ramming a police checkpoint. Two police officers and one civilian were killed and 25 Iraqis were wounded. Aides to Allawi said he was not in the building, which is in a western district of Baghdad.

 

Two car bombs also were detonated Monday in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, killing six Iraqi National Guard members and wounding four others, Iraqi security forces said.

 

Meanwhile, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan raised the possibility Monday that Iraqi elections could be postponed to try to persuade minority Sunni Muslims to participate in the vote. It was not immediately clear whether Shaalan was speaking for the Iraqi government, which has indicated firm backing for U.S. plans to hold the election as scheduled despite the increasing violence.

 

U.S. officials have warned that attacks would escalate ahead of the elections for a national assembly, and the guerrillas have made good on those fears with tragic ease. Iraq’s poorly equipped security forces usually have far less training than American troops, and attacks on them usually result in more casualties.

 

Sunday's attack in Balad occurred when a car blew up alongside a bus carrying Iraqi National Guard troops as it was passing a U.S. base. Police Lt. Haidar Karar said 22 guardsmen were killed along with their driver.

 

It was the deadliest assault on Iraqi security forces since October, when insurgents gunned down about 50 Guardsmen at a fake checkpoint.

 

Balad is in the so-called Sunni Triangle, the scene of frequent assaults on U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

 

Well, crap.