A
guard employed by the state-run daily newspaper Al-Sabah was killed when an explosive-packed
car detonated in the building’s garage at about 8:30 a.m. The blast killed
another, unidentified person, injured 20 others, and caused severe damage to
the newspaper building in Baghdad‘s
northern Waziriya district, Al-Sabah sources
told CPJ.
CPJ
sources said at least 25 cars belonging to the paper were destroyed; Reuters
reported that two cars were blown though one wall of the paper’s building. The
newspaper’s production department and the offices of Shabaqeh magazine, an Al-Sabahpublication
housed in the same building, were extensively damaged, according to CPJ
sources.
Insurgents
have frequently targeted Al-Sabah and
other state-run media because of their ties to the U.S.-supported Iraqi
government. Insurgents have killed at least 16 state media employees since
2004, and the offices of Al-Sabah and
other state-run media outlets have repeatedly come under attack.