Three injured in Baghdad Airport blast

A suicide bomber targeting American forces exploded his vehicle near the heavily guarded main checkpoint to Baghdad International Airport today, Iraqi police said.

At least three Iraqi Airways employees waiting to go to work were wounded.

US military spokeswoman Captain Kelly Lewis confirmed there was an explosion at 9:17am (6.17am Irish Time) near the landmark Abbas Ibn Firnas statue, commonly known as the “Flying Man,” which depicts a winged medieval Arab astronomer.

The statue is located between two car parks, between which there is normally a long queue of vehicles, particularly in the morning when people are driving to the airport to catch flights or go to work.

Iraqi police Captain Talib Thamir said a suicide bomber targeting a US convoy exploded his vehicle near the main checkpoint, which is mainly manned by private security guards backed by US soldiers and sniffer dogs.

A security official at western Baghdad’s main Yarmouk Hospital said three wounded Iraqi Airways employees were wounded.

One of the victims, Ghassan Yassin, said he suffered facial wounds as a result of the blast.

“Me and some colleagues at Iraqi Airways were waiting in line when we saw a speeding car, then we heard a big explosion,” Yassin told The Associated Press.

“The next thing I realised is that my car was on fire, I got out thorough the window after the doors are jammed due to the explosion.”

Baghdad International Airport has often come under mortar attack by insurgents and vehicles travelling on the road leading to it from downtown Baghdad are routinely targeted by suicide bombers and roadside explosive devices.