Huge, powerful explosion in al-Mansur district of Baghdad

[countryjake]

Reports of a loud blast & heavy smoke rising from Western Baghdad are coming in. Unconfirmed info states that a fuel truck laden with explosives is now burning in the wealthier al-Mansur district of Baghdad.

Many casualties, according to one police official.


~snips~

Police said initial reports indicate as many as 12 people have died. A hospital said 15 people have been wounded, including two Sudanese guards from the Libyan Embassy located in the neighborhood. The hospital said many of the wounded had been burned.

Rumsfeld was not believed to have been in the area at the time.


Police fear that there may be another fuel truck in the area and they are on the lookout for it and a BMW vehicle they believe is associated with the attack.

The fuel truck may have contained explosives, the police official said. The blast went off in the affluent al-Mansour neighborhood on a residential street close to the Libyan Embassy.

The official described the explosion as "huge" and reported extensive damage to houses and stores. Firefighters and ambulances rushed to the scene.


At least 12 killed as fuel truck explodes in Baghdad

[MADem]

1. Merry Christmas, Mr. Pretzeldunce

Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.

[sampsonblk]

2. Reuters has it

http://www.reuters.com/

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A powerful blast shook western Baghdad on Friday, lighting up the night sky, witnesses said.
Columns of smoke could be seen rising from the area and heavy gunfire was heard after the explosion, but it was not immediately clear what had caused the blast, they said.

The U.S. military said it was investigating.

The blast went off near the city's main communications tower in the wealthy Mansour district, the witnesses said.

"The smell of explosives is hanging over the whole area," a resident said. Mansour is home to several senior politicians, embassies and foreign contractors working on U.S.-funded projects in Iraq.

People driving nearby said a bright flash lit up the sky and a resounding boom echoed over the city.<end>

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. what type of communications tower?

for telephone, radio, or television or something else?

[sampsonblk]

9. That was the entire Reuters article

I guess we will have to wait a few minutes for more info.

Strange, though. Where are the cameras?

[countryjake]

13. They have video at the CNN home page

Also on the tube.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I don't think there is a place in Iraq

that is safe and secure. Notice that this is a 'wealthier' district. Does this mean that people living there are supporting the current government or the Americans?

[CatWoman]

5. This just breaks my heart

all of the violence, the death. Senseless. Horrible.

And yet that bitch Ann Coulter said liberals cheer the deaths.

I hope she burns in hell.

I feel so bad for the Iraqis. I will burn a candle for them tonight.

[VegasWolf]

6. awol say's, "got your merry xmas right here pilgrim" n/t

[saltpoint]

7. Bush's signature phrases of 2003-4 --

-- of "Bring it on!" and "Smoke 'em out!" and "Mission accomplished!" are growing fainter and fainter out there in Red USA.

I hope those people in the red states are pleased with their vote for a man who has attacked a sovereign nation and mismanaged its occupation.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Is Rumsfeld still in Iaq anyone know? n/t

[cal04]

21. Explosion Rips Baghdad As Rumsfeld Leaves

A gas tanker truck wired with explosives blew up in a west Baghdad neighborhood Friday, wounding 20 people and lighting up the night sky with a fireball, just hours after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld left the capital, police said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html

[MidwestTransplant]

10. Lots of contractors live there.

[sampsonblk]

11. I guess they are still bringing it on

Mannnn, how can this be? We were told our guys crushed them all in Fallujah.

If we could only get the red-state types to see what's happening... But they refuse to get it.

[Webster Green]

12. Can't you post about all the good things happening in Iraq?

Didn't our boys paint a school or something a couple of years ago?

[Massachusetts]

14. CONTINUE to Rage against the machine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:thumbsup:

WE WILL GET OUR COUNTRY BACK!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all WHO GIVE A DAMN.:toast:

[Career Prole]

16. I think so...

I'm not sure if it was before or after we blew it up, though. :shrug:

[Career Prole]

15. Yahoo has story with a mistaken(?) headline about a missile.

Says Chalabi and other big-wigs live/own homes in the area...

Missile Hits Baghdad After Rumsfeld Leaves

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded in a west Baghdad neighborhood Friday night, sparking a large fire just hours after U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld left Baghdad, police said. A fireball lit the sky after the blast in capital's the upscale Mansour district.

A police commander said a car bomb exploded in al-Amirate street near al-Ma'moon communications tower and that it had caused casualties.

Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once strongly supported by the Pentagon (news - web sites) and Washington conservatives, also has a home near the site.

"We are not sure what the bomb targeted," said the officer, who declined to be identified.

Residents of the area said they could hear small-arms fire immediately after the blast. A number of foreign embassies are housed in Mansour and many of Iraq (news - web sites)'s leading political figures live there.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041224/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[NNN0LHI]

17. We had better stop tormenting these people ASAP

Some think that we should just hold out as long as we can "helping" the Iraqis, while simultaneously pumping out their oil as fast as possible. And they think when it all goes to shit we can just pull out and its all over with. Well, I got some news for those people. It ain't going to be that easy. The Iraqis are not going to forget this shit. Even after we leave they are not going to forget what is being done to them in the name of democracy. These people are going to want revenge for this. And I don't blame them. I would too if I were in their shoes.
Don

[TyeDye75]

18. 12 Dead

dont worry though Runsfield is OK....OMFG :puke: :puke:

[Charlie Brown]

19. So was this an "accident" or an attack?

The links I've read are not clear on that.

[leftchick]

20. Photo of the Fireball in the Sky....

merry christmas... :(



BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- A loud explosion went off in western Baghdad late Friday, followed by gunfights, a Xinhua photographer saw.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but plumes of thick black smoke could be seen billowing skyward. Ambulances and police cars wailed while rushing to the site.The blast took place at about 9:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) near the communication tower, known as Saddam Tower named after toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The tower is located within 200 meters from the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government and US and British embassies.

The area was familiar with roadside bombing ambushes and rocket attacks on US and Iraqi paramilitary patrols.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-12/25/content_2378424.htm

[cal04]

22. Fuel tank explodes in Baghdad

A FUEL tanker exploded in a packed Baghdad neighborhood Christmas Eve, apparently leaving some dead, a US military spokesman said.
"It was a fuel tanker. It appears there was a loss of life," said First Cavalry Division Lieutenant Colonel James Hutton.Several homes were burnt and 19 wounded in the blast in the wealthy Mansour district, not far from some foreign embassies, a police officer said.
A huge fireball ripped through the area near a major telecommunications tower, according to eyewitnesses.

Haidar al-Mussawi, a member of the Iraqi National Congress party, said the blast about 300 metres (yards) away damaged his home. "A fire ball shot into the sky and blew out the windows of my house," he said.

The explosion occurred near a checkpoint on the road to the offices of the Iraqi National Congress, the party of prominent secular politician Ahmed Chalabi, other residents said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11779079%255E1702,00.html

[leftchick]

23. This is the same district where those two chaps were kidnapped...

God, there have been so many. I seem to remember a British fellow and an American were kidnapped from this upscale neighborhood a while back after their security personnel did not show up for work. I believe they were both later decapitated.
Yes I would say Iraq is a "Catostrophic Success"!
:(

[countryjake]

24. Yet another Update from CNN...

Police: Baghdad fuel truck blast a suicide attack

Friday, December 24, 2004 Posted: 4:26 PM EST (2126 GMT)


At least eight people were killed and 20 were wounded by the explosion in the affluent al-Mansour neighborhood, Yarmouk Hospital officials said. Fifteen people, including women and children, were in critical condition, and many had suffered severe burns, hospital officials said.

The blast went off on a street close to several embassies. Two Sudanese guards were injured in the explosion, hospital sources said.

The explosion set at least six buildings on fire, a CNN staffer in the neighborhood reported.

The neighborhood also is home to many prominent Iraqi politicians, including dissident Ahmed Chalabi, who is on the ballot for the January 30 presidential election, and Adnan Pachachi, a leading Sunni politician.

Baghdad police said they were looking for another fuel truck in the area and a BMW that they believe is associated with the attack.

Police en route to the neighborhood found three undetonated roadside bombs.

[NYC]

26. I wonder how well the fire dept. is doing.

At least 6 buildings on fire. Do they have adequate water pressure for the hoses? Do they have enough fire fighters, or have they been killed or have they fled seeking safety?

I really doubt the fire dept. is working at maximum efficiency. Buildings that could/would have been saved in the past may now be burning to the ground. People who could have been saved when the fire dept. was operating efficiently may now suffer death or injury. Another consequence of war.

[Vidar]

25. Damn, missed again (rumdum).