Twin Suicide attacks kill 18 in Iraq. Whats next?

LTEC! · November 22, 2003, 19:24

Suicide car bombings kill at least 18 Iraqis
Cargo plane leaving Baghdad airport damaged by SAM
Saturday, November 22, 2003 Posted: 5:33 PM EST (2233 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Twin suicide bombing attacks in Iraq on Saturday killed at least 18 Iraqis and injured 30 more, a U.S.-led coalition spokesman said.

The bombings occurred a police stations north of Baghdad, and no coalition troops were injured in either attack.

Later, a surface-to-air-missile hit a courier plane shortly after it took off from Baghdad airport, military sources said, but the damaged plane was able to return to the airport.

Shortly before 8 a.m. (12 a.m. EST), a suicide car bomber killed at least nine Iraqis at a police station in Khan Bani Sa'ad, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of the Iraqi capital, coalition spokesman Lt. Col. George Krivo said. At least 10 Iraqi civilians were injured.

The attacker drove a vehicle laden with explosives at high speed into the station and Iraqi police fired AK-47s at his vehicle, which detonated, said U.S. Capt. Ryan McCormick of Task Force Thunder.

A huge crater was left in front of the police station where the car bomb detonated. Three hours after the initial attack, another explosion was reported near the same police station, wounding at least two children -- one with a critical head injury -- witnesses told CNN.

At about the same time as the Khan Bani Sa'ad attack, a car bomb hit the Ba'qubah police station about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, killing at least nine Iraqis -- six police and three civilians -- according to Gen. Ahmed Kadhim Ibrahim, senior deputy interior minister and Iraqi police chief.

At least 20 Iraqis were injured in the Ba'qubah attack.

Also on Saturday morning, a DHL courier plane landed safely at Baghdad International Airport after a heat-seeking surface-to-air missile hit one of its engines, according to military sources at the airport. No one was injured.

The aircraft had just taken off when it was hit by a SAM-7, sources said. A fire in one of the engines was extinguished after the plane landed, the sources said.

A military source said the missile had a one-pound warhead -- not big enough to bring down a large aircraft, but enough to cause damage.

Missiles have been fired several times at planes approaching the airport.

Saturday's incident was the first time a fixed-wing aircraft had been hit since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations May 1. In recent weeks, five U.S. helicopters have crashed or been shot down, killing 39 soldiers.

The U.S. military has stepped up its offensive against the anti-coalition insurgency throughout central Iraq, hammering guerrilla targets in Baghdad, Ba'qubah and other towns in the region where opposition to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq runs high.

Saturday's attacks come a day after rockets launched from donkey-pulled carts hit the Iraqi Oil Ministry and two heavily guarded hotels.

The DHL aircraft was hit by a SAM-7, sources said.
Two people were wounded, one of them a U.S. civilian at the Palestine Hotel, which houses Western journalists and coalition contractors. A bellboy at the Sheraton Hotel had minor wounds.

The oil ministry building was hit by seven to 10 rockets, a U.S. military commander said. There were no known casualties, and the launchers were later recovered.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt described Friday's attacks as "sensational" but "militarily insignificant."

CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf contributed to this report.

Whats next? A triplet?

Nubclear · November 22, 2003, 19:28

"Militarily insignificant"

reds4ever · November 22, 2003, 19:34

A 'dignified withdrawl' sometime inbetween now and the US presidential elections?

Ned · November 22, 2003, 19:37

I think we are seing a shift in tatics by al Qaeda and by Saddam to striking at softer "allied" targets. Apparently, attacking the US or US forces has become exceedingly difficult.

Case · November 22, 2003, 19:45

What's new about this? The Iraqi resistance/insurgency (take your pick) has been targeting police and other collaborators for the last few months, and these attacks have included suicide bombings.

Thorgal · November 23, 2003, 10:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Ned
I think we are seing a shift in tatics by al Qaeda and by Saddam to striking at softer "allied" targets. Apparently, attacking the US or US forces has become exceedingly difficult.

Sure.

Today three more US soldiers killed. Two with throats slit.

Bereta_Eder · November 23, 2003, 10:45

Actually decapitated.

JCG · November 23, 2003, 11:55

What's next? More death and destruction, obviously.