Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD1541
2009-06-13 12:46:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

DHI QAR MARKET BOMBING: PRIME SUSPECTS BELIEVED TO

Tags:  PGOV IZ 
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VZCZCXRO8100
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1541/01 1641246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131246Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3448
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001541 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: DHI QAR MARKET BOMBING: PRIME SUSPECTS BELIEVED TO
BE AQI-AFFILIATED; PRT TRAINING CENTER TREATS VICTIMS

(U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified; handle
accordingly. Not for distribution on the Internet.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001541

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: DHI QAR MARKET BOMBING: PRIME SUSPECTS BELIEVED TO
BE AQI-AFFILIATED; PRT TRAINING CENTER TREATS VICTIMS

(U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified; handle
accordingly. Not for distribution on the Internet.


1. (SBU) Summary: The explosion of a vehicle-borne improvised
explosive device (VBIED) at the vegetable market in Al-Bathaa
on June 10 claimed 19 lives and 81 wounded. The Dhi Qar
police chief attributed the bomb to an Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)
cell operating "from a different province" and announced the
detention of two suspects. Police used warning shots to
disperse a spontaneous demonstration against alleged police
negligence in failing to deal with the illegally parked car
housing the bomb. At the request of provincial authorities,
Nasiriyah referred four patients on June 10 to the PRT's
Mittica Training Center for stabilization before being
transferred to Baghdad. Provincial authorities responded
with an unexpected coordinated and decisive response that may
constitute a favorable precedent for addressing Dhi Qar's
problems. End summary.

Market Bombing
--------------


2. (U) A VBIED exploded at a busy vegetable market in the
town of Al-Bathaa, Dhi Qar province, at 9:00 a.m. on June 10.
The Department of Health reported on June 11 that the
official toll is 19 people killed and 81 wounded, mainly
women and children who had been shopping at the market. This
was the largest violent loss of life in Dhi Qar since the
bombing of an Italian military post in 2003 killed 26 people.
Authorities sent most of the wounded to Nasiriyah General
Hospital, but medical facilities in Muthanna province, at COB
Adder and the Mobile Surgical Unit at Dhi Qar PRT's Mittica
training center also received the injured.

Reaction
--------------


3. (SBU) En route to a meeting with the Governor at the time
of the explosion, PRT Team Leader and 4/1 Armoned Division
BCT Commander followed the Governor and the Provincial Chief
of Police to the site. Shortly after the blast, a crowed of
distraught citizens, believing that the police had failed to
act on warnings from witnesses about a suspicious vehicle,
staged a spontaneous protest. PRT staff witnessed police
firing guns to break up the crowd of several dozens as it
advanced on the police, reportedly injuring one man.
(Comment: Short-lived in itself, the confrontation could
affect the popular perception of the Police Chief or
Governor, depending upon whether the public holds police
officers of the Governor's security detail responsible for
the gunplay. End comment.)


4. (SBU) Confident that local hospitals could handle the
incident, the provincial Director General of Health declined
the PRT's offer for additional supplies. Late on June 10,
however, Nasiriyah Hospital authorities dispatched to the
Mittica mobile surgical unit four patients with burns, head
trauma and other injuries requiring stabilization before
evacuation to Baghdad. The U.S. military also received five
victims, one of whom died.

Police Accuse Al-Qaeda
--------------


5. (SBU) The Provincial Police Chief said publicly that the
bombing was the work of an Al-Qaeda Iraq cell operating from
"a different province." (An unidentified police official
quoted in the local media claimed the attackers had come from
Mosul.) The Police Chief said two people had been arrested,
including the suspected triggerman. Earlier press
speculation also pointed to Sunnis displaced from Nasiriyah
or disgruntled Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI)
supporters seeking to discredit the new Da'wa-run government,
but presented no evidence to support these claims. The
Bathaa police chief was either suspended by the provincial
QBathaa police chief was either suspended by the provincial
Chief of Police pending a review of the incident or fired by
the Governor, depending on the source. On June 11, Minister
for National Security Shirwan al-Waili visited Nasiriyah to
discuss the incident with the Provincial Council.
Nasiriyah's most prominent religious leader, Sheikh Nasri,
condemned the "cowardly" attack publicly and called for unity
in face of the bloodshed.


6. (SBU) Comment: Whether there is any evidence to support
the quick early arrests of suspects remains to be seen. If
charges hold, the rapid arrest would be a coup for Police
Chief Sabah, who is strongly supported by the Prime Minister.
Low-level violence occurs in Dhi Qar but the indiscriminate
targeting of large numbers of civilians is unheard of. The
rarity of incidents such as this bombing makes plausible
local claims that the blast was the work of an outside

BAGHDAD 00001541 002 OF 002


network like Al-Qaeda. Since the new Governor and Council
took power, turf-building and egos had distracted Dhi Qar's
new leadership from grappling fully with the province's
fundamental issues. The tragedy in Al-Bathaa produced among
the province's leaders a short-term common, coordinated and
decisive response that bodes well for future cooperation.
End comment.
HILL