Blasts Kill Five in Baghdad's Green Zone
10 minutes ago Middle East - AP
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents penetrated Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone and set off bombs at a market and a popular cafe Thursday, killing five people, including three Americans, the U.S. military said, in a bold attack on the compound housing the U.S. and Iraqi government headquarters.
A top Iraqi officials said the attacks appeared to have been a "suicide operation." If so, it would be the first time insurgents have successfully infiltrated and set off bombs in the heart of the U.S.-Iraqi leadership of the country.
Tawhid and Jihad, the militant group of Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying they were "martyrdom" or suicide attacks.
"By the grace of God, two lions of the 'Martyrdom Brigade' affiliated with the military wing of Tawhid and Jihad were successful in entering the base of the American Embassy inside the Green Zone in the capital Baghdad," the statement said.
Also Thursday, an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad, the military said. As of Wednesday, 1,081 U.S. servicemen had been killed in Iraq (news - web sites) since March 2003, according to a Defense Department count.
The Green Zone attack raised fears over security in the compound and underscored militants' ability to strike in the capital even as U.S.-Iraqi forces are carrying out a new offensive to suppress them in other parts of the country ahead of January elections.
The Green Zone is a four square-mile district of central Baghdad surrounded by barricades and checkpoints that houses the Iraqi government, the U.S. Embassy, and residences, restaurants and entertainment facilities for the hundreds of Americans working there. It is also home to some 10,000 Iraqis, who need IDs to move in and out of the area.
Insurgents have frequently fired mortar rounds at the compound, and there have been a number of deadly car bombings at its gates. But this was the first time a bomb was successfully brought in and detonated.
One bomb ripped through an outdoor bazaar that caters to Westerners, selling everything from mobile phone accessories to pornographic DVDs.
The second blast took place at the Green Zone Cafe, a popular hangout for Americans and other Westerners. Last week, an improvised bomb was found and safely defused at the same cafe.
A U.S. military statement said the bombs were "hand-carried" into the zone. It said five people were killed in the blasts, including three Americans. Eighteen people were wounded, including two American soldiers and two American civilians. Officials did not release the nationalities of the other dead and wounded.
Iraq's national security adviser Qassem Dawoud said "initial information" indicated the attacks were suicide bombings. "This cowardly act will not go unpunished," he told a news briefing at the Green Zone. "We will strike them wherever they are."
After the blasts, the U.S. Embassy "strongly encouraged" Americans in the Green Zone to avoid the bazaar and restaurants inside the compound, limit their movements, travel in groups and carry several means of communication.
Al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group has claimed a series of bloody bombings across the country as well as the kidnapping and beheading of a number of foreign hostages — including three Americans.
Another group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army posted a video Thursday on the Web showing the beheading of a man identified as a Turkish driver. The same group has previously claimed to have killed another Turk and 12 Nepalese hostages.
More than 150 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the insurgency began after the U.S.-led overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in April last year.
Elsewhere, U.S. forces stepped up raids before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, trading fire with militants in the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi and detaining 10 people, including two suspected insurgent leaders, in a sweep of Baqouba.
Eight people were killed and 17 wounded in the Ramadi clashes, hospital officials said.
U.S. troops swept into the city early Wednesday, residents said. Rebels fought back with gunfire and mortar blasts. Three mortar rounds, apparently aimed at city hall, slammed into a nearby house, killing two people, said Dr. Alaa al-Aani of Ramadi General Hospital.
The gunfire in Ramadi subsided Thursday morning and U.S. forces withdrew from the city center, residents said. The military had no immediate comment on the clashes.
U.S. forces are trying to step up pressure on Sunni insurgents ahead of Ramadan, which begins Friday. Last year, its start saw a significant increase in insurgent attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.
Some extremists believe they earn a special place in paradise if they die in a jihad, or holy war, during Ramadan. The monthlong holiday of fasting marks the time when Muslims believe God revealed their holy book — the Quran — to the Prophet Muhammad.
On Wednesday, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi warned residents of the insurgent bastion of Fallujah to hand over al-Zarqawi or face attack. Allawi's government has been negotiating with Fallujah city leaders to try to bring the city under the control of Iraqi security forces.
Loud explosions were heard in Fallujah on Thursday as U.S. warplanes roared overhead, residents said. A house in the northern part of the city was flattened and others damaged, they said. One wounded man was taken to the city hospital.
A Fallujah negotiator, Hatem Karim, challenged claims that al-Zarqawi is in the city. "We want to know what evidence there is of al-Zarqawi's presence in Fallujah," Karim said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television. "We hear this name, but it doesn't exist. More than 15 to 20 houses were destroyed in Fallujah because they were accused of harboring al-Zarqawi or al-Zarqawi's followers."
He said Iraqi government officials never raised the issue of al-Zarqawi during closed-door talks with the Fallujah delegates.
Earlier Wednesday, Fallujah's chief negotiator, Sheik Khaled al-Jumeili, insisted there were "only a handful" of non-Iraqi Arab fighters in the city — a claim the Americans dismiss — and they would leave if a deal was reached with the government.
In other developments Thursday:
_ A female Iraqi television journalist was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The journalist was identified as Dina Mahmoud, who was working for Kurdish-run Al-Hurriya TV, said the station's director Nawrooz Mohammed.
_ Gunmen killed two new Iraqi Army officers in a drive-by shooting in Baqouba as they headed to work, said Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman. The two had also served in the army during Saddam Hussein's regime, he said. A day earlier, a police captain was killed in a drive-by shooting in the city.
_ A roadside bomb hit an Iraqi National Guard convoy in the northern city of Mosul, wounding six Iraqi soldiers, the U.S. military said. Several hours later, a bomb went off targeting an American convoy, causing no U.S. casualties, the military said. Two Iraqi bystanders were killed, one in each blast, hospital officials said.
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