BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen assassinated the governor of the Iraqi province that includes Baghdad, Ali al-Haidari, on Tuesday, police officials said.
Al-Haidari was shot dead while in his car in Baghdad’s northern neighborhood of Hurriyah, said the police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He was a target of another assassination attempt last year.
The officials said al-Haidari left his house in the western al-Jama’a neighborhood and when he arrived in al-Hurriyah gunmen riddled his car with bullets. He died instantly, they said.
On Monday Insurgents killed at least 17 people with a string of suicide car bombings and other attacks as the campaign to disrupt this month’s parliamentary elections appeared to be intensifying.
The attacks focused on a familiar list of primary insurgent targets: the American military and political presence, the interim government and Iraqi security forces, which are being asked to play an increasing role in establishing stability.
Suicide bombers struck twice in the capital, at checkpoints near the heavily fortified Green Zone and near the headquarters of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s political party. A third suicide car bomb exploded at an Iraqi national guard checkpoint in the town of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.
The attack outside the Iraqi National Accord headquarters in central Baghdad came about 10 a.m. as the bomber attempted to penetrate the labyrinth of security barriers that blocks access to the site.
Witnesses said the bomber, driving a Chevrolet Caprice painted to look like a taxi, detonated his device more than 300 yards from the building. The blast killed two police officers and a civilian passerby and injured at least 20 others.
Allawi was reportedly not present at the time.
Following the blast, U.S. and Iraqi forces sealed off the area, which lies alongside Baghdad’s vast Zawra public gardens and the Baghdad Zoo.
Another suicide bomber struck late Monday evening outside one of the entrances to the Green Zone, the fortified swath of central Baghdad that houses the U.S. and British embassies, interim government offices and many foreign contractors.
In Balad, the suicide bomber struck around 7:40 a.m., killing four Iraqi national guardsmen and wounding 14 others, according to the U.S. military. That came a day after a suicide bomber struck a bus carrying guardsmen in the same town, killing at least 20 people.
The U.S. military announced Monday that additional American and Iraqi troops had begun to arrive in Mosul, which has teetered on the brink of chaos for more than a month.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
