"The Anger of God": Al Qaeda claimed Hamra bombing

"BAGHDAD — Following up on my previous entry, I found the video claim of responsibility (60MB, RealVideo, sorry) for the Hamra bombing back in November. It’s all in Arabic, but it’s pretty typical jihadi video stuff, albeit with better production values than I’ve seen usually.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s organization, Al Qaeda in Iraq, did the operation in the name of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the “blind sheikh” currently in prison for his role in a plot to blow up New York City landmarks. Early in the morning on Nov. 18, two white vans laden with explosives approached the back wall of the Hamra compound. The first one, driven by Abu Ayub al-Iraqi, was to clear a path for the second van. In the video, the bomb-makers claim to have loaded the second van with 2.5 tons of explosives, but I find this doubtful. You can see, however, that they used a number of 155mm artillery shells."
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