Baghdad – Two suicide bombers struck Baghdad’s police
academy Tuesday, killing at least 43 people and wounding 73 more,
U.S. officials said, while Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video
claiming to have kidnapped a U.S. security consultant.
The suicide attackers were wearing explosives-laden vests and a
U.S. contractor was among those wounded, a U.S. military statement
said. U.S. forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the
statement said. The military initially said the bombers were women
but later retracted the statement.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country’s most notorious insurgent group,
claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on an
Islamic militant Web forum.
“Two blessed brothers … launched their attack, targeting the
police academy, which continues to produce the dogs that shed the
blood and violate the honor of Sunni Muslims,” it said. The
claim’s authenticity could not be independently verified.
Police Maj. Wisam al-Heyali said he and his colleagues were
sitting in the compound’s yard when a blast went off. “Seconds
later, we were hit by another explosion as we were running. I saw
some of my colleagues falling down and I felt my hand hit, but I
kept on running.”
Police Capt. Jalil Abdul-Qadir said the death toll was 43,
including seven policewomen. At least 73 people were wounded,
including six policewomen. He said all were officers or students at
the academy.
“One of the suicide bombers detonated near a group of students
outside a classroom,” the Task Force Baghdad said. “Thinking the
explosion was an indirect-fire attack, (Iraqi police) and students
fled to a bunker for shelter where the second bomber detonated his
vest.”
Insurgents have concentrated their attacks against Iraqi
security forces. Tuesdayís attack was the deadliest against Iraqi
forces since Feb. 28, when a suicide car bomber attacked mostly
Shiite police and National Guard recruits in Hillah, killing 125.
Also Tuesday, the U.S. military said a soldier assigned to Task
Force Baghdad was killed when a patrol hit a roadside bomb Sunday.
At least 2,129 members of the U.S. military have died since the
be
ginning of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count.
The attack at the police academy came on a second day of
testimony in the Saddam Hussein trial.
The video broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed a blond,
Western-looking man sitting with his hands tied behind his back.
The video also bore the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq and showed
a U.S. passport and an identification card.
The authenticity of the video could not be immediately
confirmed.
If true, the man would become the second American taken hostage
in the last two weeks. A U.S. citizen was among four peace
activists taken hostage on Nov. 27 by a group calling itself the
Swords of Righteousness. Two Canadians and a Briton were also part
of that group.
President Bush said Tuesday the United States will work for the
return of captive Americans in Iraq, but will not submit to
terrorist tactics. “We, of course, donít pay ransom for any
hostages,” Bush said.
“What we will do, of course, is use our intelligence-gathering
to see if we canít help locate them,” Bush said.
A French engineer was taken hostage in Baghdad on Monday and a
German aid worker was abducted near Mosul on Nov. 26.
Police Maj. Falah al-Mohammadawi said he didnít have any
additional information Tuesday about the kidnapping of the French
engineer, Bernard Planche, but that the Interior Ministry had
distributed Planche’s photo to all the checkpoints around Baghdad.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Monday
encouraged the kidnappers of the Briton to make contact, saying
“we stand ready to hear what they have to say.”
The British Broadcasting Corp. cited a Western diplomat in
Baghdad as saying direct contact had been made with the
hostage-takers. It did not identify the diplomat.
Straw, however, underlined the British governmentís refusal to
negotiate with kidnappers or pay ransom.
There is no evidence the kidnappings were coordinated, and those
responsible for abducting the German aid worker and four Christian
peace activists claim to represent different groups. But the
incidents do seem timed to coincide with Saddam’s trial or the Dec.
15 elections.
Christian Peacemaker Teams issued another statement Tuesday,
appealing to the kidnappers to release the four activists.
“As you can see by the statements of support from our friends
in Iraq and all over the world, we work for those who are
oppressed,” the group said. “We also condemn our own governments
for their actions in Iraq.”
Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the
Gulf Research Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said he thinks
the sudden increase is not an accident.
“There is some sort of policy to go back to kidnappings,” he
said. “The elections are coming and these groups want attention
and publicity. That way their political statement will get a
priority in the Western media.”
On Monday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that
the insurgency has been stronger than anticipated, but he also said
the news media have focused on the war’s growing body count rather
than progress that has been achieved.
“To be responsible, one needs to stop defining success in Iraq
as the absence of terrorist attacks,” Rumsfeld said in remarks at
the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Also Tuesday, the Marines updated their report on the deaths of
10 Marines on Dec. 1.
The statement said the Marines from Company F, 2nd Battalion,
7th Marine Regiment, were not on a foot patrol, as previously
reported, but were inside an abandoned flour mill when they were
killed by an explosion. The troops used the mill as a temporary
patrol base.
The statement said the Marines had gathered in the mill for a
promotion ceremony. The military suspects one of the Marines
triggered a booby trap, causing the explosion, the statement said.
