Bomb Near U.N. Baghdad HQ Kills 2, Injures 17

The explosion went off shortly after 8:00 am (0400 GMT) as Iraqi security guards were about to check a car at the entrance to the rear parking lot of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Antonia Paradela, a spokeswoman for the United Nations, said that most of the 17 wounded were Iraqi security guards.

Sean Kirley, a U.S. military spokesman, earlier said that the Iraqi guard and the bomber had been killed and 12 people were wounded.

"It apparently was a suicide bombing," Captain Kirley told reporters at the site, which U.S. troops sealed off while at least two helicopters patrolled above.

Other officers and witnesses put the number of wounded at 10.

Kirley said that the bomb was packed in a small sedan that pulled up to a checkpoint outside the parking lot for U.N. workers behind the hotel. The driver was stopped by security guards for a routine check.

"The bomber was engaged by a security individual. … The bomb exploded at that time," the captain said.

An AFP photographer saw the charred body of the security guard lying on the ground.

Ali Ali-Defaee, a U.N. truck driver, was in the queue at the parking lot and saw security guards approach the bomber to inspect the sedan.

"The car was behind us and then it exploded," Defaee said.

Margreet Shamoul, who lives nearby, said she heard an explosion and immediately rushed to the U.N. building where her daughter works.

She complained that adequate security had not been installed in the area.

"There is no safety for us from the threats of saboteurs," she said. "We can only hope the United States will provide more security."

The attack was the sixth car bombing in U.S.-occupied Iraq in less than seven weeks, leaving a total of more than 120 people dead.

On August 19, a massive car bomb devastated U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing at least 17 people, including the top U.N. envoy in Iraq.

On Sunday, September 21, an attack on a U.S. convoy at Al-Dulou’iya town, some 80 km to the north of Baghdad, destroyed two American military vehicles, but the U.S. troops sealed off the area around the venue of the attack to keep reporters away from the place.

About 20 mortar bombs were also fired at U.S. forces on the edge of the northern Iraqi town of Baaquba, witnesses said Monday.

The attack took place about 11:00 pm on Sunday night (1900 GMT), said Amar Abdulakarim, 30, and Hussein Abdullah, 28.

However, they could not provide any estimate of possible casualties or damage.