WAR: Three Blasts Shake Baghdad, 26 Dead

A car bomb exploded near the Australian Embassy in central Baghdad around 7 a.m. on January 19th followed by another blast at an eastern Baghdad police station.This was followed by a third blast in the Green Zone. There are at least 26 people are reported dead.



The terrorist attacks continue to kill Iraqis far more often than coalition members, casting doubt on the notion that they are simply patriots or insurgents defending their homeland. Expect attacks to continue to intensify prior to the January 30th elections. I hope that after the elections average Iraqis will feel more involved with their future and do more to help stop these attacks by reporting terrorists and their safe harbors to the authorities.

Related News Links:
Reuters
www.thecouriermail.news.com.au


[edit on 19-1-2005 by Banshee]

Eight now confirmed dead, third blast hits Green Zone:

Now Australian officials are reporting two soldiers have minor injuries:

www.thecouriermail.news.com.au
TWO Australian soldiers have been injured after a suicide car bomb exploded close to the Australian embassy in central Baghdad.
...
The defence department said the soldiers received minor injuries in the blast, while a Department of Foreign Affair and Trade (DFAT) spokeswoman said all embassy and Australian Defence Force staff had been accounted for.

"Their injuries are not life threatening and they are personally contacting their next of kin," the defence department said in a statemen.

Bomb blast at Baghdad bank

A BOMB has exploded at a Baghdad bank, targeting police as they collected their salaries

Casualties were feared, a police source said.

Link

There's at least 26 dead now from the multiple bombings:

Reuters
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents detonated a suicide truck bomb outside Australia's embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday and hit Iraqi security targets with at least three car bombs, killing 26 less than two weeks before Jan. 30 elections.

The deadliest attack was a blast near a police headquarters and hospital in eastern Baghdad. The U.S. military said in a statement the bomb killed 18 people, including five Iraqi police, and wounded 21.

Zarqawi group claims blasts

A GROUP led by al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it had carried out suicide bomb attacks on the Australian embassy and two police stations in Baghdad today.

Statements on the internet from al-Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq said members of the group's "martyrdom squadrons" struck the three locations.

Link

How interesting when Zarqawi and Al-quaida made the news again, the targeting of the population to keep them away from the elections.

Well compared to Afghanistan before their "elections" it seems that Iraq security is specially in the main city of Baghdad is open for everybody, When Zarqawi and Alqaida can go into the the main city and blow around with not problems.

I would expect for Baghdad to be one of the safest places in Iraq.

Further...

The statements from the Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq say members of the group's "martyrdom squadrons" struck four locations - the Australian mission, police stations in eastern Baghdad and in central Haifa street, and a US convoy near Baghdad's international airport.

"We promise you, agents of the Jews and the Christians, that we've got a lot more (attacks) prepared for you," one of the statements said.

"We vow that we will not stop our jihad (holy war) until we are victorious or martyred."

Link

"We vow that we will not stop our jihad (holy war) until we are victorious or martyred."

They will never be victorious. The Iraqi people can only stand this for so long before they start turning them in, turning them over, killing them theirselves, or developing their own community watches and hunting them down. The Iraqi people are tired, Saddam is out, progression is henceforth, a time of rebirth is soon to come. These factions of insurgency will not prevail and as long as they continue to attack the populace, it will only backfire on them and they will be the end result of their crimes among the people of Iraq.