2003 Jordanian embassy bombing in Baghdad

2003 Jordanian embassy bombing in Baghdad
An aerial view of the area surrounding the Jordanian embassy after the bombings. Burnt out cars and debris are visible.
The Jordanian embassy after the bombings
Location Baghdad, Iraq
Date August 7, 2003
Target embassy of Jordan
Attack type
 truck bomb
Deaths 17
Non-fatal injuries
 40
Perpetrators unknown (suspected Al Qaeda in Iraq)

On 7 August 2003, a bomb exploded outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 17 people and injuring dozens more.[1] The bomb, concealed in a minibus, exploded outside the walls of the embassy compound at around 11:00am local time. The force of the explosion sent a car onto a nearby rooftop and killed several people nearby including women and children. Six Iraqi police officers guarding the embassy were among the dead. Immediately after the blast, the embassy compound was swarmed by a mob of Iraqis who ransacked the building, chanting anti-Jordanian slogans and burning portraits of King Abdullah II. According to Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of US forces in Iraq, the attack was the worst on a soft target in Iraq since the capture of Baghdad that previous March.[2][3]

Perpetrators

By 8 August 2003 mid day, no group had claimed the attack. A team of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation was dispatched to Iraq shortly after to investigate the bombing. Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian Al-Qaeda leader, was the primary suspect in the investigation however the attack came a week after Jordan granted asylum to the daughters of Saddam Hussein, a move which angered numerous Iraqis.[4][4]

References

  1. ↑ Jordan embassy blast inquiry. BBC, 8 August 2003. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Jamie (2003-08-08). "Jordanian embassy blast kills 11 in Baghdad". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. ↑ "Jordan embassy blast inquiry". BBC NEWS. 2003-08-08. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  4. 1 2 Boettcher, Mike (2003-08-08). "Sources: Al Qaeda-linked Jordanian eyed in bombing - Aug. 8, 2003". CNN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-23.

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