24 killed, Iraqi governor wounded
Twin explosions strike provincial offices in Ramadi
BAGHDAD - A car bomb and a suicide bomber struck a government building in the city of Ramadi on yesterday, killing at least 24 people and wounding the governor of Anbar Province, according to Iraqi police officials and witnesses.
Governor Kassim Mohammad Fahdawi was among 57 people wounded, Anbar provincial council member Jassem Al Halbousi said. The two bombs were detonated outside the provincial government building, about 70 miles west of Baghdad.
The bombings in Ramadi follow a string of about 40 assassination attempts in the past month in the western province of Anbar, mostly targeting politicians, police officers, religious figures, and tribal sheiks, according to Iraqi police officials.
The uptick in violence has raised fears that Anbar is on the verge of a deadly relapse. The province was considered a model of American progress in Iraq after an alliance between US forces and Sunni tribal leaders dampened a violent insurgency there between 2006 and 2007.
After yesterday’s bombings, Iraqi authorities imposed a citywide curfew, closing down universities and schools, sending students home and increasing the number of military checkpoints in the city.
US forces responded to the attacks. Witnesses reported seeing American soldiers manning checkpoints and US helicopters flying overhead.
Although it is unclear who is responsible for the attacks, the dual bombings carry signatures of Al Qaeda in Iraq, an insurgent group that was also suspected of being behind the last high-profile attack in Ramadi in September, a triple car bombing that targeted government buildings and a hospital, killing 25.
Yesterday, the first bomb - inside a tanker truck - detonated outside the government building, which houses the governor’s office and the police headquarters, about 10:10 a.m., according to police officials.
About 10 minutes later, as the governor and security officials went outside to inspect the scene, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up inside the perimeter, injuring the governor and killing a number of Iraqi police officers, including a high-ranking security official, Colonel Dhaher Al-Dulaimi.
According to Muhanad Dulaimi, the media officer for the Anbar health department, Fahdawi received serious wounds in the head and torso and had surgery.
The governor was in semi-stable condition, according to the deputy governor of Anbar, Hikmat Jassem Zaidan, who said he had visited Fahdawi in his hospital room.
The violence has followed a decrease in the US military presence across Anbar Province. There were 57 American outposts in the province last year and only five now.
The consolidation and scaling down of US forces in Anbar is part of the larger American withdrawal plan from Iraq. By next August, US forces are slated to be down to about 50,000 troops, with only three outposts planned to remain in Anbar by the end of the summer.
