August 2009 Baghdad bombings

Last updated

August 2009 Baghdad bombings
Location Baghdad, Iraq
Date19 August 2009
10:00 [1]  – (UTC+3)
TargetMultiple
Attack type
 Car bombs and mortars
Deaths101 [2]
Injured565+ [3]
Perpetrators Islamic State of Iraq (claimed) [4]

The August 2009 Baghdad bombings were three coordinated car bomb attacks and a number of mortar strikes in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on 19 August 2009. The explosives were detonated simultaneously across the capital at approximately 10:45 in the morning, killing at least 101 people and wounding at least 565, making it the deadliest attack since the 14 August 2007 Yazidi communities bombings in northern Iraq which killed almost 800 people. The bombings targeted both government and privately-owned buildings.

Contents

Bombings

The windows were blown out and the doors were taken out, even the door frames went. If I had been in my room at the time I would have been seriously injured or worse. Everything is locked down now. Nobody can move anywhere, nobody is getting in or out. Even our security team cannot move.

John Tipple, British citizen, referring to the bombing of the Rasheed Hotel. [5]

The bombings occurred on the six-year anniversary of the bombing of the United Nations compound in Baghdad, which killed the UN's coordinator of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, Sérgio Vieira de Mello. [6] The capture of two al-Qaeda members in a car intended to be used as another bomb led officials to believe they were part of a coordinated attack. [7] The attack began in early mid-morning, [5] when a truck bomb exploded outside the Finance Ministry. A larger explosion followed outside the Foreign Ministry, accompanied by mortar attacks on the secure Green Zone. The bombing shattered windows, killing those near them, [7] and also brought down the compound wall across the street from the truck bomb. [8] The Foreign Ministry explosion alone killed 58 people, and left a crater 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep and 10 metres (33 ft) wide. [5] The next car bomb killed at least eight people and wounded at least 22 as it devastated a combined Iraqi Army-police patrol near the Finance Ministry. [5] Two bombings in distant areas of the city, one in the commercial Baiyaa district killing two and wounding 16, the other in the Bab al-Muadham district killing six and wounding 24. [5] One targeted the Rasheed Hotel, blowing out windows and door frames. [5] Several mortars fell inside the Green Zone's perimeter, one near the UN compound, where aid workers were meeting to discuss the "growing danger" facing aid groups. [9] The mortars were not confirmed by C-RAM IZ or any other US military.

In total, the attacks killed upwards of 90 people and injured upwards of 500. [1] [3] [7] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been scheduled to deliver a speech at a nearby hotel, but this was canceled due to attacks. [7]

Suspects and claim

Immediate suspicions fell on the Baathist alliance, [5] al-Qaeda, [1] and Sunni extremists. [8] The attacks were claimed, at the end of October 2009, by Islamic State of Iraq, calling the targets "dens of infidelity". [4]

A few days after the bombings, Iraq broadcast a video of former police chief Wissam Ali Kadhem Ibrahim, a Saddam Hussein loyalist, confessing to orchestrating a truck bombing at the finance ministry, the first of two bombings, [10] [11] and recalled its ambassador to Syria, after demanding that two Baathist suspects be handed over. Syria said it was not involved in the attacks, and subsequently recalled its ambassador to Iraq. [12] [13]

On 11 March 2010, Iraqi police arrested Munaf Abdul Rahim al-Rawi, the mastermind of the bombings. His capture also led to the death of al-Qaeda leaders Abu Ayub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. Al-Rawi was called the "Governor of Baghdad" and masterminded many of the other Baghdad bombings since August 2009, according to Major General Qassim Atta, a Baghdad military spokesman. [14] [15]

Reaction

The Kurdistan Regional Government condemned the attacks, [16] blamed them on a "delay in security implementation" and called for unity among Iraqis. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peshmerga</span> Military force of Iraqs Kurdistan Region

The Peshmerga comprise the standing military of Kurdistan Region, an autonomous political entity within the Republic of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga and their security subsidiaries are solely responsible for the security of Kurdistan Region, chiefly due to the fact that the Iraqi Armed Forces are forbidden to enter Iraqi Kurdistan. These subsidiaries include Asayish, Parastin û Zanyarî, and Zêrevanî. The Peshmerga's history dates back to the 18th century, when they began as a strictly tribal pseudo-military border guard under the Ottoman Turks and the Safavid Iranians. By the 19th century, they had evolved into a disciplined and well-trained guerrilla force.

The following lists events that happened during 2006 in Iraq.

Chlorine bombings in Iraq began as early as October 2004, when insurgents in Al Anbar province started using chlorine gas in conjunction with conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 in Iraq</span>

Events in the year 2008 in Iraq.

The 2008 al-Qaeda offensive in Iraq was a month-long offensive conducted by al-Qaeda in Iraq against the multinational coalition of USA, UK, Australia and Poland.

Events in the year 2009 in Iraq.

In 2003, there were 25 suicide bombings executed by 32 attackers.

The 25 October 2009 Baghdad bombings were attacks in Baghdad, Iraq which killed 155 people and injured at least 721 people.

2006 in Iraq marked the onset of a sectarian war in Iraq and remains the deadliest year of the Iraq War since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2007</span>

This list details terrorist incidents occurring in Iraq in 2007. In 2007, the US sent 20,000 additional troops into combat as part of a troop surge. There were 442 bombings in 2007, the second-most in a single year during the Iraq War. Major events included a January 16 attack on Mustansiriyah University, which killed 70 and injured 180, and February 3 bombings at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad, which killed 135 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008</span>

This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008. In 2008, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On February 1, a pair of bombs detonated at a market in Baghdad, killing 99 people and injuring 200. Two other particularly deadly attacks occurred on March 6, and June 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2010</span>

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.

The 17 August 2010 Baghdad bombings were two attacks in Baghdad, Iraq. The first attack in the morning was when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside the Iraqi Army division headquarters on potential recruits to the army, some of whom had queued for hours prior to the bombings, that killed over 60 and wounded more than 100. The second attack took place in the evening when a fuel truck exploded in a Shia neighbourhood, killing 8 and wounding 44.
Islamic State of Iraq claimed the first of the two attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)</span> 2011–13 sectarian violence in Iraq following the US invasion and withdrawal

The Iraqi insurgency was an insurgency that began in late 2011 after the end of the Iraq War and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, resulting in violent conflict with the central government, as well as low-level sectarian violence among Iraq's religious groups.

The following lists events that happened during 2014 in Iraq.

The following lists events the happened in 2013 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the War in Iraq (2014)</span>

The Timeline of the War in Iraq covers the War in Iraq, a war which erupted that lasted in Iraq from 2013 to 2017, during the first year of armed conflict.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Richard Spencer (19 August 2009). "Iraq al Qaeda bombings kill almost 100 as multiple targets hit in Baghdad". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  2. ↑ "Fresh violence strikes Baghdad". Al Jazeera. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  3. 1 2 "95 killed on Iraq's deadliest day since U.S. handover". CNN. 19 August 2009. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  4. 1 2 Londoño, Ernesto (27 October 2009). "Extremist group claims responsibility for Baghdad bombs". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Oliver August (19 August 2009). "Scores dead as Baghdad rocked by series of massive explosions". The Times. London. Retrieved 19 August 2009.[ dead link ]
  6. ↑ Rogene Fisher (19 August 2009). "Baghdad Attacks Come on 6th Anniversary of Devastating Bombing at U.N. Compound". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Dozens killed in Baghdad attacks". BBC News. 19 August 2009. Archived from the original on 19 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  8. 1 2 Ahmed Malik (19 August 2009). "Baghdad bomb blasts latest:at least 95 dead and over 536 wounded". IB Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  9. ↑ "Aid Groups Highlight Growing Threats to Staff". The New York Times. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Faraj, Salam (23 August 2009). "Iraq broadcasts truck bomber confession". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  11. ↑ Bomber confesses on Video from Straits Times Archived 2 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Syria and Iraq summon ambassadors. Syrian News Station. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009. Archived 27 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine 3 September 2009.
  14. ↑ "Iraq captures senior al-Qaida leader: spokesman". Archived from the original on 21 May 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ↑ "Al Qaeda commander: How I planned Iraq attacks". Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  16. ↑ "Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)". www.krg.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.
  17. ↑ "Kurdistan Region Presidency strongly condemns Baghdad attacks". Kurdistan Regional Government. 23 August 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.