IRAQ: Suicide attack on Baghdad army base kills at least 7 people

Record ID: 352924

  • Title: IRAQ: Suicide attack on Baghdad army base kills at least 7 people
  • Date: 6th September 2010
  • Summary: BODY OF DEAD IRAQI ARMY PERSONNEL ON STRETCHER OUTSIDE EMERGENCY WARD/ CROWD OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE WARD BODY OF DEAD ARMY PERSONNEL ON STRETCHER NEAR WAITING AMBULANCES OUTSIDE EMERGENCY WARD
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVABSI8WYOR796CSF4ZOD44H3XG5
  • Story Text: Suicide bombers and gunmen kill at least 7 while trying to storm an Iraqi army base that just over two weeks ago saw dozens of Iraqi army recruits and soldiers killed by another suicide blast.
    One or more suicide bombers, and gunmen tried to storm an army base in Baghdad on Sunday (September 5), killing seven and wounding 22, security officials said, less than a week after Washington declared U.S. combat operations in Iraq over.
    Insurgents are increasingly targeting Iraqi security forces -- at the helm of security in the country -- as the U.S. draws down.
    The attack took place in broad daylight just over two weeks after dozens of Iraqi army recruits and soldiers were killed by another suicide bomber at the same base.
    A police source said seven soldiers were killed and 22 wounded in the explosion. An Interior Ministry source said seven people were killed and 21 wounded in the attack, of which 4 of the dead and 15 of the wounded were soldiers.
    The Interior Ministry source said gunmen opened fire on the entrance of the army base, then two suicide bombers on foot tried to storm the gate but were stopped and killed. A third suicide bomber on foot was shot and injured, the source said.
    Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said the attack involved a suicide bomber in a car.
    "It was a suicide car bomber targeting the main entrance of Rusafa military command," Moussawi said.
    Conflicting accounts from different sources are common in the chaotic aftermath of bomb attacks in Iraq.
    Residents in the neighbourhood reported extensive shooting after the explosion and said the gunfire continued for more than an hour after the attack. Many said there were two explosions.
    Moussawi said soldiers fired into the air to keep onlookers away, fearing there could be a second attack.
    The base, which has heavy security but is near a mainly Sunni neighbourhood with an al Qaeda presence, was a defence ministry headquarters under Saddam Hussein and now serves as an army recruitment centre as well as a military command.
    At least 57 recruits and soldiers were killed and 123 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the same army base on August 17. Tensions are simmering in Iraq as the country remains in a political vacuum six months after an inconclusive vote. Talks on forming the next government have made little progress.
    The end of the U.S. combat mission seven-and-a-half years after the invasion to topple Saddam has raised fears of a return to broader bloodshed and of increased attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents.
    The U.S., which said last week the Iraq war was in its final stages, says Iraqi security forces are capable of handling violence in the country, but many Iraqis do not believe its army and police are ready for the task.
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