List of suicide bombings in Iraq in 2003
Encyclopedia
January to March
- February 26: A suspected Ansar al-Islam member detonated a suicide vest at a checkpoint in northern Iraq, killing three.
- March 22: Three people were killed, including an AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cameraman, and nine others injured when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint in Sayed Sadiq. - March 29: Iraqi soldier Ali Hammadi al-Namani kills four US soldiers in a suicide car bombing near NajafNajafNajaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
.
April to June
- April 3: A female suicide bomber kills three coalition soldiers at a checkpoint north-west of BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. Her apparent accomplice, a pregnant woman who was also killed in the attack, exited the vehicle prior to the explosion and began screaming in fear. It is unclear if she was attempting to flee, or trying to draw the coalition troops towards her vehicle. - April 10: A suicide bomber walked up to a military checkpoint in central Baghdad and blew himself up, wounding four U.S. Marines.
July to September
- August 19: Canal Hotel bombingCanal Hotel BombingThe Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in the afternoon of August 19, 2003, killed at least 22 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just 5 days...
, in Baghdad, kills 22 people (including the top UN representative Sergio Vieira de MelloSérgio Vieira de MelloSérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations employee who worked for the UN for more than 34 years, earning respect and praise around the world for his efforts in the humanitarian and political programs of the UN...
) and wounds over 100. - August 29: One or two car bombs, possibly detonated by suicide bombers, explode outside the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf. Between 85 and 125 people were killed, including the leader of the nation's Shia community Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim.
- September 9: A suicide car bomber targets the US intelligence headquarters in the northern city of Irbil, killing three people and injuring 41.
- September 22: A suicide car bomber blows himself up near the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing a security guard and wounding 19 people.
October to December
- October 9: In the first attack on an Iraqi police station, a suicide car bomb explodes outside a station in Sadr CitySadr CitySadr City is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim and later unofficially renamed Sadr City after deceased Shia leader Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr....
, killing at least eight people. - October 12: One or two suicide car bombs near the Baghdad HotelBaghdad HotelThe Baghdad Hotel is a large hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by Westerners after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The hotel overlooks the Tigris on its eastern bank....
kills six Iraqis and wound more than 30 others, including three US soldiers. An Iraqi suicide bomber detonated prematurely outside a Kirkuk police station, wounding two bystanders. - October 14: A suicide car bomb explodes outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad, wounding two security guards.
- October 16: A suicide vehicle bomber was killed by security agents before he could attack the Interior Ministry building in Irbil.
- October 27: Four or five suicide car bombings rock Baghdad, killing 30-40 people including two US soldiers. The deadliest attack was on the HQ of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where a suicide bomber driving an ambulance killed 12 and wounded 20. The other attacks targeted Iraqi Police stations.
- October 28: A suicide car bomber blew himself up 100 yards from a police station in FallujahFallujahFallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
, killing four. - November 12: A suicide car bombing in the southern town of NasiriyahNasiriyahNasiriyah is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar...
kills 30 one people. The target was an Italian military base, and 19 of the dead are Italians. - November 20: A suicide truck bomb explodes outside the office of the Patriotic Union of KurdistanPatriotic Union of KurdistanThe Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a Kurdish political party in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded on June 1, 1975, by coordinations between Jalal Talabani and Nawshirwan Mustafa...
, a US-allied Kurdish political party in KirkukKirkukKirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...
. Four people are killed and 30 wounded. - November 22: Two suicide car bombers struck police stations in the towns of Khan Bani Saad and Baquba almost simultaneously, killing at least 18 and leaving over 30 wounded.
- December 9: Suicide bombers, one in a car and another on foot, blow themselves up at the gates of two US military bases, wounding 61 American soldiers.
- December 10: Three suicide bombers attack the headquarters of the 82nd Airborne Division in RamadiRamadiRamadi is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad. It is the capital of Al Anbar Governorate.-History:Ramadi is located in a fertile, irrigated, alluvial plain.The Ottoman Empire founded Ramadi in 1869...
. One US soldier dies and 14 others are wounded. - December 14: Hours before the US military announces that they have captured Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, a suspected suicide car bomber kills 16 police officers and two civilians outside a police station in KhaldiyaKhaldiya' is a suburb of Kuwait City; it is located in the governorate of Al Asimah in Kuwait.* one of the mosques in Khalidya...
, 60 miles west of Baghdad. - December 15: On the northern outskirts of the Iraqi capital, a suicide bomber driving a four-wheel-drive taxi killed eight policemen at their station in Husainiyah. Just hours before, in the Ameriyah neighbourhood of the city, eight policemen were injured by another suicide car bomber.
- December 17: A suicide truck bomber, who was trying to attack a police station in the al-Bayaa district of Baghdad, collided with a bus at an intersection killing at least ten people and wounding 20.
- December 18: A VBIED attacked a civilian convoy on MSR Hershey at approximately 0700 hours as they were leaving their encampment to go to work near Bayji Iraq. A South African APC was destroyed in the process. Several injuries, but no US personnel military or civilian were killed.
- December 24: A suicide bombing kills four and wounds over 100 at the Interior Ministry offices in Arbil.
- December 27: Five BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n soldiers and two ThaiThai peopleThe Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
soldiers are among 19 people killed and 18 injured in a coordinated attack on Coalition military bases in KarbalaKarbalaKarbala is a city in Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 572,300 people ....
. Four suicide car bombers struck a Bulgarian base, a compound containing the City Hall & police headquarters, and a multinational logistics base run by Polish, Thai, and American soldiers.