October 2009 Baghdad Bombings

On the morning of 25 October 2009, at approximately 10:30 am local time, two suicide car bombs — one in a minivan and one in a 26-seat bus — detonated in quick succession in Baghdad, Iraq. The attacks targeted the Ministry of Justice and the Baghdad Provincial Council building. The nearby Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, located roughly 50 metres from the Justice Ministry, also sustained severe damage.

The bombings killed 155 people and injured at least 721 others. Among the dead were 35 employees of the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council. Three American contractors were among the wounded. A bus carrying children from a daycare center adjacent to the Justice Ministry was also struck, killing the driver and two dozen children on board and wounding six other children.

The explosions caused severe damage to St George's Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq. Canon Andrew White reported that body parts had been blown into the church by the blast, and that a humanitarian medical clinic operating on the site had been destroyed. The attack was described as the deadliest in Iraq since August 2007, and it occurred close to the site where car bombers had killed at least 120 people at the Foreign and Finance Ministries two months earlier.

Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Ahmad al-Khafaji stated that the bombs had been manufactured inside the Green Zone, near the site of the blasts, with perpetrators reportedly renting premises in a nearby sidestreet to smuggle in bomb-making materials gradually. On 11 March 2010, Iraqi police arrested Munaf Abdul Rahim al-Rawi, described as the mastermind of the bombings. His capture reportedly led to the deaths of Al-Qaeda leaders Abu Ayub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. Al-Rawi, referred to as the "Governor of Baghdad," was said by Major General Qassim Atta, a Baghdad military spokesman, to have masterminded several other Baghdad bombings since August 2009.

The bombings had significant political effects. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had sought to portray the country as safer following the 2006–2008 civil war period, faced criticism as local politicians said the attacks were intended to undermine confidence in his ability to secure the country ahead of the planned U.S. withdrawal. Maliki faced re-election in January 2010, and the bombings led some Iraqis to reconsider their support for him. Maliki condemned the attacks as "cowardly acts of terrorism." U.S. President Barack Obama also condemned the bombings, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated the U.S. would work with Iraqis "to combat all forms of violence and attempts at intimidation."