1 February 2008 Baghdad bombings

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1 February 2008 Baghdad bombings
1 February 2008 Baghdad bombings
Location of Baghdad in Iraq
Location Baghdad, Iraq
Date February 1, 2008 (UTC+3)
Attack type Suicide bombs
Deaths 98
Injured 208
Perpetrator(s) Unknown: legal proceedings have not yet taken place.
 
Major terrorist attacks of the Iraq War
Attacks with 100+ fatalities in bold:
1st Baghdad – 2nd Baghdad – Najaf – 3rd Baghdad – Nasiriyah – 1st Karbala – Irbil – Ashoura – Basra – Mosul – 4th Baghdad – Karbala-Najaf – Baqubah – Kufa – FOB Marez – 1st Al Hillah – Musayyib – 5th Baghdad – 6th Baghdad – 1st Balad – Khanaqin – Karbala-Ramadi – 1st Samarra – 7th Baghdad – 8th Baghdad – 9th Baghdad – 10th Baghdad – 11th Baghdad – 12th Baghdad – 13th Baghdad – 14th Baghdad – 2nd Al Hillah – Tal Afar – 15th Baghdad – 16th Baghdad – 2nd Karbala – 17th Baghdad – 3rd Karbala – Makhmour – Abu Sayda – 2nd Samarra – 18th Baghdad – Amirli – Kirkuk – 19th Baghdad – 20th Baghdad – Qahtaniya – 21st Baghdad – 2nd Balad – 4th Karbala

The 1 February 2008 Baghdad bombings occurred on February 1, 2008, when two suicide bombings occurred in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

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[edit] Details

A female bomber detonated explosives at about 10:20am at the popular al-Ghazl pet market in the centre of the Iraqi capital. A second bomb exploded at a bird market in southeast Baghdad's al-Jadida district about 20 minutes later. 98 people were killed and about 208 injured by the bomb blasts.[1]

The two blasts were shortly before the call to Friday prayers when many Iraqis were shopping or meeting with friends.[2]

Brigadier-General Qassim al-Moussawi, Iraq's chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said the women who carried the explosives were mentally handicapped and may have been unaware they were on a suicide mission. "We found the mobiles used to detonate the women," he said, referring to the remote detonated devices that were used in the attack.[1] Initial reports were that both women had Down Syndrome, based on the anaylsis of their intact heads. But later reports were less clear on the issue, saying that the women suffered from depression and schizophrenia and it was unknown whether they had a condition that made them unable to understand what they were doing.[3]

The acting director of the al-Rashad psychiatric hospital, Dr. Sahi Aboub, was arrested in connection with the attack on February 10.[4]. It has been reported [5] that Dr Aboub is a Shia Muslim and that the al Rashad hospital is run by the Shia Mehdi Army. However, the attacks occurred in primarily Shia areas of Baghdad.

[edit] Reactions

  • Flag of Iraq Iraq: Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said the use of disabled people underlined the "terrorists' moral degradation".[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Al Jazeera English - News - Toll Rises In Baghdad Market Blasts
  2. ^ BBC News: Twin bombs kill scores in Baghdad, February 1, 2008
  3. ^ Files for Suicide Bombers Show No Down Syndrome - New York Times
  4. ^ Iraq | Siege mentality at Baghdad hospital | Seattle Times Newspaper
  5. ^ Patrick Cockburn: This is the war that started with lies, and continues with lie after lie after lie - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent
  6. ^ BBC News: Iraq market bombs toll nears 100, February 2, 2008

[edit] External links