POLICE CHALLENGE VBID, EXPLOSION ENSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000071

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/8/2017
TAGS: PTER SOCI MARR IZ
SUBJECT: POLICE CHALLENGE VBID, EXPLOSION ENSUES

CLASSIFIED BY: Mark G. Davison, Team Leader, Provincial
Reconstruction Team, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (U) This is a PRT Najaf/Diwaniyah Cable.

VBID EXPLODES IN KUFA


2. (C) Our locally engaged staff in Najaf report that, on May
8, 2007 at approximately 1015, a device identified by Iraqi
Security Forces as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
(VBID) detonated near the Sherhistani Square in Kufa City,
causing death, injury and property damage. Accurate figures of
fatalities and casualties are as yet difficult to obtain -- the
Provincial Director General for Health reported to the press the
figures of 16 dead and 70 injured; later, the Mayor of Kufa was
quoted as numbering 20 dead and 40 injured. These discrepancies
are likely due to the fact that the injured have been taken to
both South-Central Hospital and the Teaching Hospital. The
severity of the injuries will likely cause the ultimate number
of casualties to increase.

MASSIVE EXPLOSION


3. (C) Based on damage to an adjacent building, which had
partially collapsed, the explosion was a powerful one. The
explosion took place during the mid-morning period of high
pedestrian traffic. Heavy foot traffic was swelled by students
who attend various colleges in the area and casual laborers who
congregate in the Square to be contacted by daily employers.

SECURITY SCRUTINY -- KUFA BRIDGE NOT LIKELY THE TARGET


4. (C) Eyewitness report that the driver of the vehicle had
stopped in front of a restaurant, about 30 feet from the Square
itself. Iraqi traffic police, who check vehicles at that
location, challenged the driver of the vehicle and the vehicle
detonated.


5. (C) IP have informed our LES that the vehicle was a
Chevrolet Caprice with forged license plates. This latter
aspect could well have raised the suspicions of the traffic
police. Iraqi Police (IP) headquarters sources question whether
the driver himself was intent on being a suicide bomber or not.
The IP discount the concern that nearby Kufa Bridge was the
actual target for the VBID, stating to us that it was more
likely that the incident was designed to target the public in a
way to produce the maximum number of deaths and injuries. They
argue against the bridge as target (recalling the recent attacks
on bridges in Baghdad) by pointing to the larger number of
checkpoints necessary for the vehicle to pass to reach the
bridge. In contrast, the site of the explosion at the Square
itself was the first area of vehicle search encountered.


6. (C) Following the explosion, the Deputy IP Chief visited
the area. IP have increased checkpoints both in Kufa and in
nearby Najaf.

COMMENT -- TRAIN AND EQUIP


7. (C) This is not the first time that Sherhistani Square has
been the site of an explosion -- there have been several,
including in April, 2006 when the perpetrator was killed there
by an outraged public while trying to escape the scene. The
incident demonstrates the continuing need of the IP to be
further trained and equipped, so that their initial challenge to
suspicious vehicles is not so catastrophic. The Governor of
Najaf continues to make this point in his contacts with the
Ministry of the Interior and with Coalition senior
representatives.

DAVISON