Bombs Kill at Least 30 People, Hurt 224 in Coordinated Baghdad Attacks

UPDATE: Bush Says Attacks Are A Sign of U.S. Progress (WP 10/28)

UPDATE: PNAC-plan continues?
-Attack blamed on caught 'Syrian' (Reuters 10/27)

UPDATE: Almost 40 killed in Baghdad explosions (AP),
224 were wounded (NY Times):

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 27 — A series of blasts shook Baghdad early today, including a suicide attack on the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross and bombings at four Iraqi police stations that punctuated two days of bloody violence in this capital city.

Iraq's police chief and deputy interior minister, Ahmad Ibrahim, said at a news conference that 34 people were killed and 224 were wounded in the attacks. He said 26 of the dead were civilians and eight were police. Sixty-five policemen and 159 civilians were wounded in the blasts, he said.

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The attacks took place in a condensed time period — between 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. local time — leading American and Iraqi officials to believe they were part of a highly coordinated attack that came at the outset of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. There was a strong suspicion that foreigners were involved, and American and Iraqi officials referred to a "new element" being responsible for the bombings.

The officials differentiated between today's attacks and one on Sunday against a highly protected hotel where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz was staying, which they attribute to loyalists to the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.

Five police station were attacked, but one attempt was foiled when the attacker was shot. He was not killed, and according to American and Iraqi officials he identified himself as Syrian and was carrying Syrian identification.

Another of the police station attacks succeeded, officials said, in part because the bomber was driving a police vehicle and wearing a police uniform.

The attack at the Red Cross headquarters occurred when an ambulance carrying exlposives drove through the light protection around the building and detonated the bomb from about 40 to 50 feet away.

Compared with other potential targets in Baghdad, the Red Cross building was lightly protected; it was blocked by just some oil drums filled with sand and some barbed wire, while many buildings have truck barricades or cement walls as a security cordon.

Update: Bombs rock central Baghdad (BBC, Monday, 27 October, 2003, 08:16 GMT )

aljazeera.net

Monday Oct. 27, 2003 1:00 am

Two fresh explosions rocked the main US-led occupation compound in Baghdad, hours after a rocket attack on a hotel hosting the US deputy defence secretary.

That strike was the second on the occupation force's power base since US President George Bush declared an end to major combat operations on 1 May.

Then, late on Sunday evening, two more explosions hit the US-led force's main compound in Baghdad, Aljazeera's correspondent said. Local residents said Katyusha rockets had been fired from the southern suburb of al-Dura.

Powerful explosion rocks central Baghdad, near the Red Cross building. Coalition forces cordoning off scene.

...

CNN live feed w Jane Arraf

Two car bombs (at least) in front of ICRC building... still burning heavily... facade of 2/3 story building is damaged but not collapsed... a few walking wounded, strechers coming out...

...

LATEST: Two plumes of smoke, both car-bombs, Red Cross + Industry Ministry... No word of casulties... Helicopters over both, ambulances and fire services rushing to scene... reports CNN + BBC.

more details as they become available and here...

'Syrian' Bomber Caught Alive in Baghdad, U.S. Says

Reuters - Mon, Oct 27, 2003

A U.S. general said the one attacker captured in the bombings that killed 34 Monday had a Syrian passport, fueling suspicions that foreign fighters were behind a rising tide of violence.

Bush Says Attacks Are A Sign of U.S. Progress

WP -Tuesday, October 28, 2003; Page A01

The president, speaking after attacks on police stations and a Red Cross facility in Iraq killed at least 35 people, said such attacks should be seen as a sign of progress because they show the desperation of those who oppose the U.S.-led occupation.

"The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react," Bush said as he sat in the Oval Office with L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq.

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