Incident Summary:
10/25/2009: On Sunday morning at 1030, one of two suicide bombers detonated at an intersection near the justice and municipalities ministries in Haifa street in the Al Karkh district in the As Salihiyah neighborhood in Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. One of the vehicles was identified in footage, when driving up to the justice ministry building, as a white Renault truck with the logo of the Department of Water in Fallujah. The truck was loaded with two tons of explosives. A total of 77 people were killed, including thirty-five employees of the Ministry of Justice, and 360 were wounded including two U.S. contractors. The explosions damaged the Ministry of Justice building, one hotel, one embassy, 156 vehicles, and destroyed dozens of cars and smashed water pipes. The Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attack by posting the claim on the internet.
Overview
GTD ID:
200910250005
When:
2009-10-25
Country:
Iraq
Region:
Middle East & North Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Baghdad
City:
Baghdad
Location Details:
The attack took place on Haifa Street in the Al Karkh in the As Salihiyah neighborhood, near the Justice Ministry in Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Iraqi Ministry of Justice |
Specific Description |
The target was the Ministry of Justice building. |
Nationality of Target |
Iraq |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Vehicle |
Weapon Details |
A suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device (White Renault truck), with the logo of the Department of Water in Fallujah, was used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
This was one of two related attacks (cf. 200910250001). The available sources listed the fatalities for these attacks cumulatively as 153, and the injuries for these attacks cumulatively as 720 including three U.S. contractors, so these figures have been distributed evenly for these cases in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Posted to website, blog, etc.) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
77 Fatalities / 360 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
77 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
360 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
2 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Press TV, "Death Toll Rises To 147, Baghdad To Mourn Three Days," http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=109630§ionid=351020201 (October 26, 2009). |
Press TV, "Twin Blasts Kill 62, Injure Over 600 In Baghdad," http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=109562§ionid=351020201 (October 25, 2009). |
Press TV, "Baghdad Blasts Toll Passes 130," http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=109576§ionid=351020201 (October 25, 2009). |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties