The Green Zone is the 'secure' area of the capital where the US set up headquarters during the invasion and initial occupation. It's where the US Embassy is today as well as many of the Iraqi government buildings and where many of Iraq's 'elite' (such as Nouri) live. The Green Zone never suffers from lack of electricity the way the rest of Baghdad -- or the country, for that matter -- so often does.
Iraqis deride it as where politicians hide out to. But the fortified part of the capital isn't so fortified. NINA reports:
Foreign Ministry announced that " one of the terrorists riding a motorcycle bombers tried to enter the security perimeter of the building of the ministry at about nine in the morning but he blew himself up at the first external checkpoint of the Ministry headquarters .
And then came the car bomb outside the Foreign Ministry. Seven people dead and more injured.
Then the Ministry of the Interior spokesperson Saad Maan announced that "the number of victims of the bombings which occured today near the Ministry of Foreign [Affairs] by two suicide bombers reach 20 dead and 28 injured." All Iraq News also notes the statement and that both bombings are now identified as suicide bombings by the Ministry.
National Iraqi News Agency reports 3 Baghdad car bombings left 1 person dead and eight more injured, in an update on this attack it is noted that the death toll rose by 9 (to ten) with a total of thirty-two injured, a Baghdad car bombing in al-Saha district left 2 people dead and ten injured, an oil pipeline outside of Tikrit was blown up, a suicide bomber (wearing an explosive belt) and a car bombing attacked a west Mosul police station leaving five police members injured, a suicide bomber attacked the al-Shurta army headquaters and took his own life as well as the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers with six more left injured, a Baghdad bombing (Dora district) left six people injured, the Ministry of Defense announced security forces had "killed 35 members of the terrorist organization 'Daash'," a Mosul car bombing left four SWAT members injured, a suicide tanker bombing north of Tikrit left the bomber dead as well as 3 Iraqi soldiers and 7 police members, an Abi Tammam bombing left three people injured, a Jisr Diyala roadside bombing left 3 people dead and five injured, a Katyusha rocket attack on central Baghdad (Haifa Street) left six people injured, a Sharqat roadside bombing left 1 military officer dead and five other people injured, 2 Iraqi soldiers were shot dead at an eastern Mosul checkpoint (Zebour), a suicide bombing attack on a Baghdad checkpoint (Karada Mariam) claimed the life of the bomber and 2 Iraqi soldiers, 1 police member and 1 civilian, another suicide bomber in Baghdad's Karada Mariam district blew himself up and killed 1 civilian and left five more injured, and a Baghdad car bombing near the Baghdad Municipality left 1 person dead and four more injured. All Iraq News adds 3 corpses were discovered in Basra. Alsumaria adds that there was a mortar attack on a Nineveh Province prison northwest of Mosul.
That's 22 dead from the attack on the ministry (20 dead from spokesperson plus 2 dead -- the suicide bombers) and plus the ones in the paragraph above that comes to 101 dead. There's also 127 noted as injured.
Duraid Salman and Ammar al-Ani (Alsumaria) note Nouri announced today that the assault on Anbar is "nearing the end."
Which means what?
Two more weeks?
Four?
Iraq's supposed to hold parliamentary elections April 30th. Those ballots have to start being printed March 1st. That's 23 days from now.
All Iraq News reports, "The official spokesperson of the Independent High Electoral Commission IHEC, Safaa al-Musawi, the Board of Comissioners excluded (69) candidates after checking their criminal records received by the Ministry of the Interior."
The following community sites -- plus On The Wilder Side, Antiwar.com, KPKF and Pacifica Evening News -- updated last night and today:
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