Car Bomb at Turkish Embassy in Baghdad

[Nancy Waterman]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/14/international/middleeast/14CND-BLAS.html?hp

A blast some 1,500 feet from the rear of the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad today left two people wounded, a coalition forces spokeswoman in the Iraqi capital said today. Some news reports said the explosion was the work of a car bomber, who died in the blast.

The explosion took place along a concrete barrier at the back of the building, so that the barrier absorbed some 90 percent of the blast, the spokeswoman said. She added that it was not clear if the wounded were Iraqi police officers, soldiers, Turks at the embassy or local people.

<snip>

A different version of events was given by Col. Pete Mansoor of the First Armored Division, who told news agencies that a car was driven toward the entrance of the heavily-fortified mission, killing the driver and wounding one Turk and one Iraqi.

<snip>

If today's incident proves to be the work of a suicide car bomber it would be the third such incident in a week. On Sunday eight people were killed in an attack on a Baghdad hotel used by members of the Iraqi Governing Council and by many Americans. Last Thursday a similar bomb killed two Iraqi police officers and six civilians.

The explosion comes amid widespread opposition in Iraq to the possibility that Turkey will deploy troops in the country as part of a peacekeeping force sought by the United States.

[soleft]

1. Concrete is the only thing saving *'s ass