Car Bomb Rips Through Kurdish Party HQ in Baghdad

Reuters | June 1 2004

Comment: Notice again the 'huge crater' - this is not consistent with a car bomb but is consistent with an Apache missile attack. Numerous eyewitnesses to past bombings have reported missiles being the cause of these craters. Who exactly is ensuring Iraq remains in chaos? If the country is at peace, there is no reason for coalition troops to be there.

FLASHBACK: UK forces 'involved' in Basra blasts: cleric

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb tore through the headquarters of one of Iraq's main Kurdish parties in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens shortly before the Iraq's new government was announced.

Iraqi policeman Sattar Jabar said he had seen at least 25 bodies but Lieutenant Colonel Robert Campbell, a U.S. officer at the scene, said only three people were confirmed dead and 20 wounded. He said the blast was caused by a car bomb.

The blast was at the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, close to Iraq's Foreign Ministry and an entrance to the "Green Zone" compound where the U.S.-led administration in Iraq is based. Shooting rang out after the explosion.

A huge crater was blown into the ground at the entrance to the building. Officials said an anniversary party had been going on in the building and that it was packed with people when the bomb exploded.

Saad Adnan a driver at the transport ministry, said he was driving past the PUK headquarters when it was hit by the blast.

He said guards at the building opened fire after the blast, killing some bystanders.

Adnan said he saw several bodies. "One of the dead was a woman. Only her head was left," he said.