“Twin Suicide Bombings Kill 27 Near Baghdad Trade Bank (Update3)”

Twin Suicide Bombings Kill 27 Near Baghdad Trade Bank (Update3)

Posted: 20 Jun 2010 09:31 AM PDT

June 20, 2010, 12:16 PM EDT

(Updates with Army confirmation of suicide bombing starting in first paragraph.)

By Kadhim Ajrash and Nayla Razzouk

June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Two simultaneous suicide bombings today targeted the state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq, said Brigadier General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad Military Command.

At least 27 people were killed in the car bombings that devastated the facade of the bank, which is responsible for the promotion of foreign trade, the Associated Press reported. The bombings came a week after at least 15 people died when al-Qaeda suicide bombers and gunmen stormed the Central Bank of Iraq.

Explosive experts said the bombings were carried out by two suicide attackers in two cars, according to Atta. Each vehicle was loaded with 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of aluminum nitrate, he said in an e-mailed statement.

The force of the blasts tore the glass facade off the three-story building, leaving chairs and desks exposed, AP said. The explosives-packed cars were parked a few hundred yards apart when they blew up shortly after 11 a.m. as the area was crowded with people at the start of the work week, AP said.

The attacks were described as "an act of terrorism" by Atta, who earlier said 18 people had been killed and 42 wounded.

Violence in Iraq has grown after the March 7 parliamentary elections produced no clear winner, though attacks haven't reached the levels of 2006-2007, when the country tipped toward civil war.

Banks, Jewelry Stores

Several vehicles in the neighborhood were damaged by the explosions, Atta said. On May 17, Atta said al-Qaeda has been targeting banks and jewelry stores in Iraq because of financial difficulties.

The Trade Bank of Iraq will be open tomorrow after the attack, which left five of the institution's guards dead and six others wounded, Chairman Hussein Al-Uzri said in a statement.

"The work of building Iraq's economic strength -- which the Trade Bank of Iraq is doing so much, and very successfully, to support, and in which we are making significant progress year by year -- goes on uninterrupted, as does the work of the bank, which will be open for business tomorrow," he said.

The U.S. is preparing to scale back its military force in Iraq from about 90,000 to 50,000 by the end of August, with a complete withdrawal of combat troops next year.

--Editors: Jennifer Freedman, Ana Monteiro

To contact the reporters on this story: Nayla Razzouk in Amman at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net; Kadhim Ajrash in Baghdad at kadhimajrash@yahoo.com.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maher Chmaytelli at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net