Posted on 09/02/2003 1:44:35 AM PDT by kattracks
The Associated PressBAGHDAD, Iraq Sept. 2 — Two huge explosions were heard in central Baghdad on Tuesday and Al-Jazeera television said the bombs were near the al-Rasafa police station not far from the Iraqi Interior Ministry building.
Al-Jazeera said there were as many as 10 people injured and many cars had been destroyed. The Qatar-based satellite broadcaster said the bombs were place in a park near the police station and that the police building was not seriously damaged. The U.S. military said it had no immediate comment on the blasts.
Car Bomb Explodes Near Baghdad Police HQBy ANDREW ENGLAND
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A car parked near police headquarters in central Baghdad exploded Tuesday wounding an unknown number of bystanders, but doing little damage to the police building, the presumed target of the attack.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that many were wounded. One man, who had a shrapnel wound in his left arm, said he saw a hand laying in the road.
``There was debris blown everywhere,'' said Raad Majid, 27, whose arm was bandaged. He said he was about 30 yards away when the blast occurred.
Acting Baghdad police chief Hassan al-Obeidi has offices in the headquarters building and is closely associated with the U.S.-led occupation authority, especially former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who put al-Obeidi in his position. Kerik has been in Iraq to rebuild the country's police force.
Al-Obeidi was being mentored by Dep. Chief Constable Doug Brand, a detective from Sheffield, England, and was shot in the leg at the end of July during a weapons raid in downtown Baghdad.
The day after the raid, he moved a bed into his office, from which continued to command the police force without taking any time off.
The police headquarters is not far from the Iraqi Interior Ministry building.
The U.S. military said it had no immediate comment on the bombings.
09/02/03 04:49 EDT
Car bomb hits Baghdad police HQ, 14 woundedBy Rosalind Russell
BAGHDAD, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A car bomb ripped through a major complex for Iraq's U.S.-backed police force in Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding 14 people, witnesses and hospitals said.
The explosion damaged the office of the U.S.-appointed Baghdad police chief, Hassan Ali, who was not in the complex at the time of the attack, they said.
Police Brigadier Saeed Muneim said Ali was probably the target of the blast.
In the latest guerrilla attack, two U.S. soldiers serving with a military police unit were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device on one of Baghdad's main supply routes, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.
In Baghdad, witnesses said a large explosion targeted the Rasafa police headquarters in eastern Baghdad at 11:15 a.m. (0715 GMT), starting a large fire and sending a cloud of black smoke into the sky.
"A car bomb blew up inside the complex," Iraqi police First Lieutenant Nihad Majeed told Reuters.
Major Salem Abdul Zahra said the car was in the station's car garage.
Brigadier Muneim said there had been no fatalities but many wounded. A U.S. soldier said earlier one policeman had been killed.
Hospitals said 14 people were wounded in the blast. Resident Dia Kareem said he saw two wounded policemen taken away.
Two fire engines and several ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion as U.S. military police cordoned off the area and a helicopter gunship circled the complex.
Iraq has seen a series of bomb attacks in the past few weeks. A car bomb killed a top Shi'ite Muslim cleric and more than 80 others in the city of Najaf on Friday. Bombings also hit the U.N. headquarters and the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad.
Seven policemen were killed in July in a roadside bomb attack in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad.
U.S. officials blame attacks on occupying forces and other targets on supporters of Saddam Hussein, still thought to be on the run nearly five months after he was deposed. But they have also made increasing mention of the presence of al Qaeda and other foreign fighters.
The military spokeswoman said the latest attack on U.S. troops took place on Monday afternoon. A third soldier was wounded, she said.
Sixty-seven U.S. and 11 British soldiers have been killed by hostile fire since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1.
09/02/03 05:12 ET
I just heard this site had very strict security..... every car entering that car park was searched.
Seems like another inside job.
Maybe,......an inside job done by 'outsiders',...or by unsuspecting neutrals hoodwinked into being 'mules'.
Terrorists don't need the media to tell them to bomb Americans. They're inspired enough to know that Americans are in their backyard.
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