Six killed in Baghdad car bomb attack
Friday 18 November 2005, 12:32 Makka Time, 9:32 GMT
Two car bombs have exploded in a central Baghdad
residential neighbourhood, killing at least six people and injuring 43
others between an Interior Ministry building and a hotel occupied by
foreign journalists.
There were conflicting reports about which facility was the target. Iraqi
officials said Friday's attack was against the Interior Ministry
lock-up where US troops recently found detainees who appeared to have
been tortured.
But
US troops said the target appeared to be the al-Hamra Hotel, another
heavily fortified compound where foreign news agencies are based. There
were no immediate reports of foreign casualties in the 8.20am (0520
GMT) blast.
The
double bombings in the Jadiriyah neighbourhood reverberated through the
city centre, sent a mushroom cloud hundreds of feet into the air and
was followed by sporadic small-arms fire.
Major Falah al-Mohammedawi from the Interior Ministry said he believed that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq was behind the bombing.
"The
attacks were targeting the [Interior Ministry building] itself and we
believe that al-Zarqawi's group is behind the blasts as revenge for the
fact that some al-Qaida members were inside the shelter," he said.
Copycat bombings
Associated
Press Television News footage showed several residential buildings
collapsed from the blast and a large crater in the road.
But
US soldiers said the attack was a copycat of a car bombing against
journalists in the Palestine Hotel last month, with the first car bomb
attempting to knock down the hotel's defensive wall and the second
vehicle trying to penetrate the breach.
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Defence workers tried to pull
victims out of the rubble |
"They tried to knock down the wall to get to the hotel," said Sergeant-Major Stanley, who did not give his first name.
"There are a lot of casualties and a lot of damage."
Deputy
Interior Minister Major-General Ali Ghalib said the Interior Ministry
building is very close to the al-Hamra Hotel but he believed that the
hotel was the target.
"The
hotel is fortified and the shelter is fortified," Ghalib said. "It was
random explosions because the suicide attacker could not reach the
target and that is the reason why the damage was in a civilian building.
"I think that the hotel was targeted because foreigners usually stay there," Ghalib said.
Engineering units from the US army were sent to the scene to help in the rescue effort, a statement from the US 3rd Infantry Division said.
Victims pulled out
Firefighters joined neighbours to dig through the debris and pull victims out.
At least one family was believed buried in the rubble, al-Mohammedawi said.
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"The
attacks were targeting the [Interior Ministry building] itself and we
believe that al-Zarqawi's group is behind the blasts as revenge for the
fact that some of al-Qaida members were inside the shelter"
Major Falah al-Mohammedawi | "We are trying to rescue them and we hope to find them alive," he said.
Police-Captain Nabil Abdel-Qadir said the two car bombs were detonated behind the Interior Ministry building.
Six civilians were killed and three police officers were among the injured, he said.
A five-member family was rescued by firefighters after part of their house collapsed, police Major Raed Abbas-Salman said.
The mother had serious burns because she was in the kitchen, while the father and three children suffered shrapnel wounds.
Detainees found
US
troops found up to 173 malnourished detainees, some showing signs of
torture, in the building on Sunday. Most were believed to be Sunni
Arabs.
A leader of a major Sunni party, Tariq al-Hashimi, told Iraq's Sharqiyah television on Thursday that his group had submitted 50 complaints of prisoner abuse to the government.
"We did not receive a timely response," he said.
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Six civilians were killed and three
police officers injured in the blast | However,
Interior Minister Bayan Jabir, a Shia, brushed aside the complaints,
denied sectarian bias and claimed that "every time" al-Hashimi has
differences with him "he exerts pressure on me through the US embassy".
"I reject torture and I will punish those who perform torture," Jabir said. "No one was beheaded, no one was killed.
"Those
who are supporting terrorism are making the exaggerations," he said,
adding that only seven detainees showed signs of abuse.
In
a statement on Thursday, the US embassy said the Iraqi authorities had
given assurances that they would investigate the conditions of
detainees found on Sunday night. The statement said the abuse of
prisoners would not be tolerated by either the Iraqi government or
US-led forces anywhere in the country.
No militia
"We
have made clear to the Iraqi government that there must not be militia
or sectarian control or direction of Iraqi security forces, facilities
or ministries," the US statement added.
Prominent
Sunni Arabs have complained for months about abuse by Interior Ministry
forces, whom they claim have been infiltrated by Shia militias. The
Sunnis called for an international investigation after the Jadriyah
detainees were found.
The government denies the militia allegations.
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