The 2004 Erbil bombings was a double

suicide attack A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

on the offices of Iraqi Kurdish political parties in

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, ...

on 1 February 2004. The attackers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies as hundreds gathered to celebrate

Eid Al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's co ...

in Erbil. A former government minister, the deputy

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Erbil Governorate ku, پارێزگای ھەولێر , other_name = , image_skyline = Collage_of_Hawler_-_Erbil_Governorate.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise, from top: ...

and the city's

police chief The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

were among those killed at the offices of the

's main political groups, the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Gov ...

(KDP) and the

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK; ku, یەکێتیی نیشتمانیی کوردستان, translit=Yekîtiya Nîştimanî ya Kurdistanê) is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describe ...

(PUK). The attacks occurred as party leaders were receiving hundreds of visitors to mark the start of Eid. The

Al-Hayat newspaper Al-Hayat ( ar, الحياة meaning "Life") was a London-based, pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation estimated over 200,000. It was the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred v ...

speculated that the bombings may have been retribution for the capture of bin Laden's courier Hassan Ghul in The

''"We have no group that's claimed responsibility,"'' Senor said, saying al Qaeda or Ansar al-Islam, a northern Iraq group with suspected al Qaeda ties, could be responsible. ''"It could be any number of groups attempting to operate inside Iraq."''

References

External links

* 2004 murders in Iraq 21st-century mass murder in Iraq Mass murder in 2004 Al-Qaeda activities in Iraq Suicide bombings in Iraq Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2004 February 2004 events in Iraq Building bombings in Iraq History of Erbil {{kurdistan-stub

See also

References

External links