Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2003

In 2003, there were 25 suicide bombings executed by 32 attackers.

January to March

• February 26: A suspected Ansar al-Islam member detonated a suicide vest at a checkpoint in northern Iraq, killing three.^[1]
• March 22: Three people were killed, including an Australian cameraman, and nine others injured when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint in Sayed Sadiq.^[2]
• March 29: Iraqi soldier Ali Hammadi al-Namani kills four US soldiers in a suicide car bombing near Najaf.^[3]

April to June

• April 3: A female suicide bomber kills three coalition soldiers at a checkpoint north-west of Baghdad. 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.^[4]
• April 10: A suicide bomber walked up to a military checkpoint in central Baghdad and blew himself up, wounding four U.S. Marines.^[5]

July to September

• August 19: Canal Hotel bombing, in Baghdad, kills 22 people (including the top UN representative Sergio Vieira de Mello) 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.^[6][7][8]
• September 9: A suicide car bomber targets the US intelligence headquarters in the northern city of Irbil, killing three people and injuring 41.^[9]
• September 22: A suicide car bomber blows himself up near the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing a security guard and wounding 19 people.^[10]

October to December

• October 9: In the first attack on an Iraqi police station, a suicide car bomb explodes outside a station in Sadr City, killing at least eight people.^[6][11]
• October 12: One or two suicide car bombs near the Baghdad Hotel kills six Iraqis and wound more than 30 others, including three US soldiers.^[12][13][14]
• October 14: A suicide car bomb explodes outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad, wounding two security guards.^[6]
• October 16: A suicide vehicle bomber was killed by security agents before he could attack the Interior Ministry building in Irbil.^[15]
• 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.^[6][16]
• October 28: A suicide car bomber blew himself up 100 yards from a police station in Fallujah, killing four.^[17][18]
• November 12: A suicide car bombing in the southern town of Nasiriyah kills 30 one people. The target was an Italian military base, and 19 of the dead are Italians.^[6][19][20]
• November 20: A suicide truck bomb explodes outside the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a US-allied Kurdish political party in Kirkuk. Four people are killed and 30 wounded.^[6]
• 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.^[21][22]
• 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.^[6]
• December 10: Three suicide bombers attack the headquarters of the 82nd Airborne Division in Ramadi. One US soldier dies and 14 others are wounded.^[6]
• December 14: Hours before the US military announces that they have captured Saddam Hussein, a suspected suicide car bomber kills 16 police officers and two civilians outside a police station in Khaldiya, 60 miles west of Baghdad.^[23][24]
• 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.^[25]
• 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.^[26]
• 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.^[24]
• December 27: Five Bulgarian soldiers and two Thai soldiers are among 19 people killed and 18 injured in a coordinated attack on Coalition military bases in Karbala. 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.^[6][27]

References

1. "Incident profile". MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30.
2. "Incident profile". MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base. Archived from the original on 2005-02-26.
3. "Iraq warns of more suicide missions". BBC News. March 29, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
4. "Iraq says women killed troops". BBC News. April 5, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
5. "Coalition makes key advances in northern Iraq". CNN. April 9, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
6. Terror strikes blamed on al-Zarqawi in Iraq - Hunt for Al-Qaida - MSNBC.com
7. "Iraq Shias massacred on holy day". BBC News. March 2, 2004. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
8. "Najaf bombing kills Shiite leader, followers say". CNN. August 29, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
9. "Three killed in Irbil suicide bombing". The Guardian (London). September 10, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
10. "Blast Near Baghdad U.N. Compound". CBS News. September 22, 2003.
11. "Incident report". MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30.
12. "Suicide bombing near hotel kills six Iraqis". CNN. October 12, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
13. Hanley, Charles J. (October 13, 2003). "Twin bombs kill 6 in Iraq". Deseret News (Salt Lake City).
14. MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
15. MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
16. CNN https://web.archive.org/20080515200738/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/10/27/sprj.irq.main/index.html. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
17. MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
18. Al-Issawi, Tarek (October 28, 2003). "Car bomb kills at least four in Fallujah; eight new blasts heard in". Deseret News (Salt Lake City).
19. "Suicide blast wrecks Italian base". BBC News. November 12, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
20. "Italy brings home Iraq war dead". BBC News. November 15, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
21. MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
22. (Chinese) Suicide bombs in Iraq kill 18, plane reported hit
23. CNN https://web.archive.org/20080614080609/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/14/sprj.nirq.saddam.debrief.ap/index.html. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
24. "A year of deadly attacks in Iraq". The Sydney Morning Herald. July 20, 2004.
25. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20031216/ai_n12716897. Missing or empty |title= (help)
26. MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
27. "Karbala attacks kill 12, wound dozens". CNN. December 27, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2010.