2005 Al Hillah bombing

2005 Al Hillah bombing
Part of Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006) in Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
LocationAl Hillah, Iraq
DateFebruary 28, 2005
TargetIraqi police recruiting center
Attack type
Suicide car bomb
Deaths127
InjuredHundreds
PerpetratorRaed Mansour al-Banna

The Al Hillah bombing killed 127 people, chiefly men lining up to join the Iraqi police forces, at the recruiting centre on February 28, 2005 in Al Hillah, Iraq.

The bombing caused a worsening of Iraqi-Jordanian diplomatic relations after it was learned that suicide bomber, Raed Mansour al-Banna, had come from Jordan. Banna's family in Jordan gave him a heroic funeral, angering many Iraqi Shia. Thousands protested outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad and demanded it close, and the dispute led to both countries recalling their respective ambassadors.[1]

Al-Banna had earlier tried to enter the United States in July 2003, although he was turned away at O'Hare Airport as he possessed "multiple terrorist risk factors".[2]

  1. ^ Iraq-Jordan Dispute Deepens; Diplomats Recalled in Aftermath of Suicide Bombing[dead link]
  2. ^ Temple-Raston, Dina. The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in the Age of Terror, 2007