19 August 2009 Baghdad bombings
Encyclopedia
The 19 August 2009 Baghdad bombings were three coordinated car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...

 attacks and a number of mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

 strikes in the Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i capital, Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

. The explosives went off simultaneously across the capital at approximately 10:45 in the morning, killing at least 101 and wounding at least 565, making it the deadliest attack since the 14 August 2007 Yazidi communities bombings
2007 Yazidi communities bombings
The 2007 Yazidi communities bombings occurred at around 8pm local time on August 14, 2007, when four co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera , near Mosul....

 in northern Iraq which killed almost 800 people. The bombings were targeted at both government and privately-owned buildings.

Bombings

The bombings occurred on the six-year anniversary of the bombing
Canal Hotel Bombing
The Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in the afternoon of August 19, 2003, killed at least 22 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just 5 days...

 of the United Nations compound in Baghdad
United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq is an entity that was formed by the United Nations in Security Council Resolution 1500 on 14 August 2003.-Mandate:...

, which killed the UN's then-coordinator of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq
Unami
Unami may refer to:*the Lenape language, or its sublanguage the Unami language*Unami Creek*the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq *the Unami Lodge...

, Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations employee who worked for the UN for more than 34 years, earning respect and praise around the world for his efforts in the humanitarian and political programs of the UN...

. The capture of two Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

 members in a car intended to be used as another bomb led officials to believe they were part of a coordinated attack. The attack began in early mid-morning, when a truck bomb exploded outside the Iraqi Finance Ministry
Ministry of Finance (Iraq)
The Ministry of Finance is the Iraq government agency responsible for finance of Iraq and banks....

. A larger explosion followed outside the Foreign Ministry, accompanied by mortar attacks on the secure Green Zone
Green Zone
The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city...

. The bombing shattered windows, killing those near them, and also brought down the compound wall across the street from the truck bomb. The foreign ministry explosion alone killed 58 people, and left a crater 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep and 10 metres (32.8 ft) wide. 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. Two bombings in distant areas of the city, one in the commercial Baiyaa
Baiyaa
Baiyaa is a middle-class district in western Baghdad, Iraq along the Baghdad Airport Road. It contains separate Sunni and Shiite enclaves within it...

 district killing two and wounding 16, the other in the Bab al-Muadham district killing six and wounding 24. One targeted the Rasheed Hotel
Al Rasheed Hotel
Hotel Al-Rasheed is an 18-story hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by journalists and media personnel. It is named for Harun Al-Rashid....

, blowing out windows and door frames. Several mortars
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

 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. 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. Prime Minister of Iraq
Prime Minister of Iraq
The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority...

 Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Prime Minister...

 had been scheduled to deliver a speech at a nearby hotel, but this was canceled due to attacks.

Suspects

Major General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi Army
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....

, announced that, "We accuse the Baathist alliance of executing these terrorist operations." Meanwhile, other sources blamed them on Al-Qaeda, and others on suspected Sunni extremists.

Iraq later broadcast a video of former police chief Wissam Ali Kadhem Ibrahim, a Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

 loyalist, confessing to orchestrating a truck bombing at the finance ministry, the first of two bombings.

Iraq later recalled its ambassador to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, after demanding that two Baathist suspects be handed over. Syria denied involvement in the attacks, and subsequently recalled its ambassador to Iraq. The two countries had previously restored diplomatic relations in 2006 after a period of 24 years.

Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani
Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani
Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani is an Iraqi general and the former director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service.-Early life and military service:...

, director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service
Iraqi National Intelligence Service
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service is an intelligence agency of the Iraqi government that was created in April 2004 on the authority of the Coalition Provisional Authority.-Background:...

 had presented evidence linking Iran to the attack but Iraqi leadership refused to publicly implicate Iran in the bombings.

On March 11, 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.

Reaction

The Kurdistan Regional Government
Kurdistan Regional Government
The Kurdistan Regional Government , , is the official ruling body of the predominantly Kurds-populated Kurdistan Region in Northern Iraq...

condemned the attacks in a statement and blamed it on "delay in security implementation" and called for unity among Iraqis.
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