Baghdad, 14 October 2003 (RFE/RL) -- A car bomb exploded outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad today, killing the suicide bomber and wounding at least two other people. A U.S. military spokesman, Colonel Peter Mansoor, said one of the injured was a Turkish Embassy staff member and the second one was an Iraqi working in the building.
"A vehicle passing by the front of the Turkish Embassy exploded, killing the driver and injuring two people inside the embassy.... Both of them will be fine. They have been transported to local hospitals for medical treatment. There were no other casualties that we know of," Mansoor said.
Reuters news agency reported that U.S. troops have sealed off the area with razor wire and turned journalists away as ambulances and fire crews rushed to the scene.
RFE/RL reporter Valentinas Mite is on the scene. "Just in front of my eyes I see two American helicopters. I see American soldiers. They have set a [security] perimeter around the [Turkish Embassy]. There were some rumors that banks would be attacked before tomorrow's introduction of a new [Iraqi] currency.... But the building seems to be, more or less, normal. I see no destruction," Mite said.
The attack comes a week after Turkey decided to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq despite strong objections from the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council and the country's Kurdish community.
"A vehicle passing by the front of the Turkish Embassy exploded, killing the driver and injuring two people inside the embassy.... Both of them will be fine. They have been transported to local hospitals for medical treatment. There were no other casualties that we know of," Mansoor said.
Reuters news agency reported that U.S. troops have sealed off the area with razor wire and turned journalists away as ambulances and fire crews rushed to the scene.
RFE/RL reporter Valentinas Mite is on the scene. "Just in front of my eyes I see two American helicopters. I see American soldiers. They have set a [security] perimeter around the [Turkish Embassy]. There were some rumors that banks would be attacked before tomorrow's introduction of a new [Iraqi] currency.... But the building seems to be, more or less, normal. I see no destruction," Mite said.
The attack comes a week after Turkey decided to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq despite strong objections from the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council and the country's Kurdish community.