Via the BBC: Explosion at Iraq parliament cafe
An explosion has hit a cafeteria at the Iraqi parliament, killing at least one MP and injuring several other people, witnesses have said.The cafeteria is reserved for MPs and their staff, some of whom were having lunch there when the blast happened.
The building, where parliament was in session, is located inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.
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MP Mohammed Hassan Awad from the National Dialogue bloc (a Sunni group not part of the government) was killed in the cafeteria blast.
The AP updates the story to note that two members of parliament died in the attack, with four other person wounded, at least one of which is an MP from Awad’s bloc.
The other MP killed was a Shiite, according to the AP, but was not named in the piece.
Earlier in the day, a major bridge was bombed: (also via the BBC) Explosion targets Baghdad bridge:
A truck bomb explosion on a bridge in Baghdad has killed at least eight people and sent several cars toppling into the River Tigris below.The rush-hour blast partially destroyed the Sarafiya Bridge by collapsing one of its girders.
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The Sarafiya bridge was one of the busiest links across the Tigris, the main connection for the northern part of the city.
The AP story linked above notes the following about the bridge:
The al-Sarafiya bridge connected two northern Baghdad neighborhoods — Waziriyah, a mostly Sunni enclave, and Utafiyah, a Shiite area.Police blamed the attack on a suicide truck bomber, but Associated Press Television News footage showed the bridge broken apart in two places — perhaps the result of two blasts.
Cement pilings that support the steel structure were left crumbling. At the base of one lay a charred vehicle engine, believed to be that of the truck bomb.
“We were astonished more when we saw the extent of damage,” said Ahmed Abdul-Karim, 45, who also lives near the bridge. “I was standing in my garden and I saw the smoke and flying debris.”
Locals said the al-Sarafiya bridge is believed to be at least 75 years old, built by the British in the early part of the 20th century.
“It is one of Baghdad’s monuments. This is really damaging for Iraq. We are losing a lot of our history every day,” Abdul-Karim said.
These are two high profile, and high impact (one political and one infrastructural, with both affecting the general sense of security attacks. It is difficult to maintain the argument that things are improving in Baghdad if these types of attacks can be successfully perpetrated.
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April 12th, 2007 at 11:56 am
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