A garbage truck packed with explosives detonated near the main entrance of Baghdad TV’s offices on April 5, killing Deputy Director Thaer Ahmad Jaber. Nizar, a guard, died from his injuries the following day. Eleven other employees were injured in the attack, according to CPJ sources.
The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi press freedom organization, reported that the attackers fired at the station’s guards, clearing the way for the truck. The front of the building, which houses the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party-owned Baghdad TV and Radio Dar al-Salam, was destroyed along with several station and employee cars, according to news reports. The station’s main transmission equipment was damaged, briefly interrupting its broadcast.