BAGHDAD, Iraq – Suicide bombers using a cement truck and two other vehicles packed with explosives launched a dramatic attack Monday against the Palestine Hotel, where many foreign journalists are based.
At least half a dozen passers-by were killed in the blast that sent up a giant cloud of smoke and debris over central Baghdad.
| The latest identifications reported by the U.S. military of personnel recently killed in Iraq: Army Staff Sgt. Dennis P. Merck, 38, Evans, Ga.; died Thursday in Baghdad of a noncombat related injury; assigned to the National Guard’s 878th Engineer Battalion, Augusta, Ga. Marine Lance Cpl. Kenneth J. Butler, 19, Rowan, N.C.; died Friday from an explosive near Amariyah; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marine Cpl. Seamus M. Davey, 25, Lewis, N.Y.; died Friday from an explosive near Haqlaniyah; assigned to the Reserves 4th Force Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Reno, Nev. |
The deafening attack triggered confusion and panic throughout the hotel, and sent cars swerving wildly on a roundabout to escape the blasts. Inside the 19-story hotel, the force of the blasts shattered glass, tore pictures off walls and brought down light fixtures and ceilings.
The cement truck was the last of three vehicles trying to break through the wall outside the hotel. The first car drove up to the wall and exploded, blasting out a section of the concrete. According to the U.S. military, the second car was headed for the fresh breach in the wall but exploded near the 14th Ramadan Mosque when it was engaged by civilian security forces.
Within minutes, the truck made it through the breach but apparently became stuck on a road between the Palestine and the neighboring Sheraton hotels. The truck rocked back and forth and then blew up after a U.S. soldier opened fire on it.
Casualty reports varied widely. The U.S. military said six civilians were killed and 15 wounded, but Iraq’s national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said at least 20 were killed and 40 wounded, mainly passers-by on the street. Kamal said four or five police officers were among the dead.
Two Associated Press employees and three other journalists inside the hotel suffered minor injuries.
No American troops were wounded, the military said. A U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle parked inside the compound was destroyed in the blast, but no one was inside at the time.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, suspected insurgents opened fire at two civilian cars, killing three municipal workers and a passer-by, said police Capt. Talib Thamir amid a surge of violence over the last two days that has killed dozens.
The toll among American service members killed in the Iraq war reached 1,997, with the announcement of a Marine killed Sunday during fighting in western Iraq.
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