Chaos has broken loose in Baghdad.

A suicide attacker set off a truck bomb on Tuesday outside the hotel housing the U.N. headquarters, U.S. officials said. At least 20 U.N. workers and Iraqis were killed, including the chief U.N. official in Iraq, and 100 were wounded.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, a 55-year-old veteran Brazilian diplomat who was nearing the end of his four-month mission, was in his office when the explosion ripped through the building about 4:30 p.m. and was trapped in the rubble.
U.N. officials said 15 people were killed and 100 wounded. A survey of Baghdad hospitals by The Associated Press found 20 people killed, including 14 U.N. workers.

Vieira de Mello was the UN’s top envoy. His death occurred in what is being described as a suicide attack.

A top US official says there is evidence to suggest a suicide bomber had carried out the attack, which blew out windows as far as a mile away.

There is some reason to believe that the bomber(s) had a larger target in mind, specifically a group of U.S. Congressmen:

The U.N. blast came as a seven-member congressional delegation was in Iraq. The lawmakers were not at the U.N. headquarters at the time and were not injured.

The delegation cut short its visit in Iraq by several hours and was due to go to the next stop in Kuwait, congressional and administration aides told CNN.

Tuesday, August 19th, 2003, 10:07 am   |   War Bites  |  RSS feed Comments and pings are currently closed.