| 25 October 2009 Baghdad bombings | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) | |
| Location | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Date | 25 October 2009 10:30 am – (UTC+3) |
| Target | Multiple |
Attack type | Car bombs |
| Deaths | 155 [1] |
| Injured | 721+ [1] |
| Perpetrators |  Islamic State of Iraq [2] |
The 25 October 2009 Baghdad bombings were attacks in Baghdad, Iraq which killed 155 people and injured at least 721 people. [1]
The attack was caused by two suicide [3] car bombs, [4] in a minivan and a 26-seat bus, [5] which targeted the Ministry of Justice and the Baghdad Provincial Council building [6] in a quick succession at 10:30 am local time. [7] The Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, which is approximately 50 metres (160 ft) from the Justice Ministry, also sustained severe damage. [8] Among the dead were 35 employees of the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council. Among the wounded were three American contractors. [9] A bus carrying children from a daycare next to the Justice Ministry was also hit, killing the driver and 2 dozen children on board as well as wounding six other children. [5]
The blasts badly damaged St George's church, the only Anglican church in Iraq. Canon Andrew White reported body parts had been blown into the church by the explosion and that a humanitarian medical clinic which operated on the site had been destroyed. [10]
It was the deadliest attack in Iraq since August 2007 [4] and took place very close to where car bombers killed at least 120 people at the Foreign and Finance Ministries two months earlier. [11]
Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Ahmad al-Khafaji told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the bombs were manufactured inside the Green Zone, in a location right next to the blasts. Deputy Minister al-Khafaji said, "It seems the individuals who carried out the attacks had rented a house or commercial premises in a sidestreet of the area they intended to target and gradually sneaked in the bomb-making materials." [12]
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 Aug. 2009, according to Major General Qassim Atta, a Baghdad military spokesman. [13] [14]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been trying to portray the country as safer than the period of civil war from 2006 to 2008. Local politicians said the blasts were trying to destroy faith in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his ability to secure the country after the U.S. withdrawal. [3] He faced re-election in January 2010, and much of his popularity had rested on the safety of the country. The bombings prompted some Iraqis to reconsider their support for the Prime Minister. [11]
The Prime Minister responded, stating, "The cowardly acts of terrorism which occurred today, must not weaken the resolution of Iraqis to continue their journey and to fight the followers of the fallen regime, the Baathists and al-Qaeda." [3]
US President Barack Obama strongly condemned the attacks; [4] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement that the U.S. would work together with Iraqis "to combat all forms of violence and attempts at intimidation." [15]
Events in the year 2007 in Iraq.
The February 2007 Al-Saydiya market bombing was the detonation of a large truck bomb in a busy market in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The suicide attack killed at least 135 people and injured 339 others. The bomb, estimated to be about one ton in weight, brought down at least 10 buildings and coffee shops and obliterated market stalls in a largely Shi‘ite enclave less than a half-mile from the Tigris River.
The Sons of Iraq or al-Sahwah were a coalition in the Al Anbar province in Iraq between Sunni tribal leaders as well as former Ba'athist Iraqi military officers that united in 2005 to maintain stability in their communities. A moderate group, they were initially sponsored by General Petraeus and the US military.
The 2007 al-Askari mosque bombing occurred on 13 June 2007 at around 9 am local time at one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, the al-Askari Mosque, and has been attributed by Iran to the Iraqi Baath Party. While there were no injuries or deaths reported, the mosque's two ten-story minarets were destroyed in the attacks. This was the second bombing of the mosque, with the first bombing occurring on 22 February 2006 and destroying the mosque's golden dome.
Events in the year 2008 in Iraq.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 7 March 2010. The elections decided the 325 members of the Council of Representatives who would elect the prime minister and president. The elections resulted in a partial victory for the Iraqi National Movement, led by former Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which won 91 seats, making it the largest alliance in the Council. The State of Law Coalition, led by incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, was the second largest grouping with 89 seats.
Rafi Hiyad al-Issawi is an Iraqi politician who is a former finance minister and deputy prime minister. A doctor by profession, he is the fourth most senior politician from the Sunni Arab minority after former Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak and Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Usama al-Nujayfi.
The 20 June 2009 Taza bombing was an attack which took place in Taza near Kirkuk, Iraq on 20 June 2009 in a dominant Shia Turkmen community. At least 73 people were killed and over 200 more were injured. Thirty homes were destroyed in the bombing.
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.
The December 2009 Baghdad bombings were attacks in Baghdad, Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of at least 127 people and injuries to at least 448 more. The attacks have been condemned internationally as acts of terrorism. Opposition parties within Iraqi politics have suggested that the attacks were aided by corruption within the Iraqi security forces and that the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, was incompetent in managing the incident.
Events in the year 2010 in Iraq.
The April 2010 Baghdad bombings were a series of bomb attacks in Baghdad, Iraq that killed at least 85 people over two days. Hundreds more were seriously wounded.
The 10 May 2010 Iraq attacks were a series of bomb and shooting attacks that occurred in Iraq on 10 May 2010, killing over 114 people and injuring 350, the highest death toll for a single day in Iraq in 2010.
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.
Events in the year 2011 in Iraq.
On 22 December 2011, a series of coordinated attacks occurred in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 69 people. This was the first major attack following U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
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.
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.