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WASHINGTON, June 26, 2007 – A suicide bomber attacked a Baghdad hotel yesterday while community leaders were meeting to discuss peace efforts, and a vehicle-bomb attack struck civilians and damaged businesses in Mosul.
As Iraqi tribal leaders met at the Al-Monsur Hotel in the center of the Iraqi capital to try to put an end to the violence in Iraq, a suicide bomber entered the hotel lobby and detonated his vest, killing nine people and wounding 11 others, officials reported.
"This attack highlights how dangerous reconciliation is to the terrorists, who are willing to go to any extreme to stop it," said Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commanding general of Multinational Division Baghdad and the 1st Cavalry Division.
Iraqi police were the first on the scene and controlled the situation. Soon after, coalition soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division’s 9th Cavalry Regiment, who patrol that area, came to provide help.
The bombing and the identity of its perpetrator are under investigation, officials said.
In Mosul yesterday, Iraqi police and army units responded to a vehicle-bomb attack targeting innocent civilians and damaging businesses and property in the city’s Al Sijin neighborhood. The attack killed two people and wounded 14 others and damaged 20 local stores and seven privately owned vehicles.
"Iraqi security forces acted swiftly and decisively in response to this desperate act of terrorism," said Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team. "Their actions reduced the impact of this potentially devastating attack."
The Iraqi police and soldiers helped the injured while safeguarding citizens who lived or worked in the damaged buildings in the area, officials said.
"Terrorists are making desperate attempts to cripple the growth process of the citizens and businesses of Mosul," Twitty said . "The local community will unite and quickly rebuild as ISF hunt down those responsible for this attack."
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
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