Just like the bombing of Al-Askari shrine, Al-sarafiya bridge witnessed strange events hours before the bombing.
Iraqirabita quoting an eyewitness lives in Al-Atafiya – western side of the river says she woke up 07,10 this morning because of the unusual sounds of Americans helicopters above the river Tigris.
I thought that this a beginning of an raid in our neighborhood, to be sure I went upstairs to see where are these helicopters are heading to.
I saw with my own eyes a helicopter firing two missiles, I heard an explosion, then I saw the bridge collapsed.
Another report says.….It is interesting to note this morning Iraqi police blocked the traffic on the bridge for more than two hours, shortly before the explosion they allowed civilians cars to cross the river, which confirms that there is an orchestrated destruction of Al-Sarafiya bridge and resumption of movement by the time of the bombing was to cover up the actions of the “bombers”ز
If you think that this is a joke then here is the Chairman of Iraqi parliament “Al-Mashadani” also questions this act revealing that this planed a month ago to separate Baghdad’s both sides, making it easy to control
Very interesting! Are there any more eyewitness reports available? And that name names? Its urgent that this issue be mad public, as the suicide truck bombing story is all over the net.
Further investigation here:
Now read this report of an event that occurred two days ago:
Suicide bomb collapses Baghdad bridge At least 10 killed
Canadian Press
April 12, 2007
BAGHDAD — A suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad early Thursday, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River below, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.
The al-Sarafiya bridge connected two northern Baghdad neighborhoods — Waziriyah, a mostly Sunni enclave, and Utafiyah, a Shiite area. After more than a year of massacres of Sunni and Shia civilians by US-sponsored death squads working out of the Iraqi interior ministry, both Sunni and Shia civilians have fled neighborhoods where they were originally in the majority or where there was a mix of the two groups.
Before the al-Sarafiya bridge was destroyed, nine spans across the Tigris linked western and eastern Baghdad. Now there are eight. How long will they last?
The Tigris river now serves as a de facto dividing line between the mostly Shiite east and the largely Sunni west of the city, with the bridges the only connection between them. It’s called “counter insurgency strategy” — divide and conquer.
The reports that a “truck suicide bomb” had been detonated on the bridge came from the US military. No independent Iraqi or other source was able to verify this claim. In fact, AP Television News video showed the bridge broken in two places suggesting two blasts.
etc
http://www.signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/130203-%22Suicide+Bombings%22+-+The+Cover+Story+For+US+Military+Ops+In+Iraq
brian
I read today a story of another eyewitness saying the bridge destroyed by US helicopter, I search it again.
By the way
Iraqi version of the story is:
Bombs were placed on one of the Bridge pillars caused the collapse of the bridge.…funny…hehe…
ladybird, this item in Juan Coles blog may also be relevant:
‘Al-Hayat also points out that the Sarrafiya Bridge, which was destroyed by a truck bombing on Thursday, had been a symbol of the cosmopolitan character of the capital. It was built by the British in the time of the monarchy (which ended in revolution in 1958). [Update: Al-Hayat was wrong in placing the bridge between Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods; I regret transmitting the error.]
Parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani, a fundamentalist Sunni, expressed suspicions that the bridge was taken out to isolate the Sunnis of Karkh and Rusafa from one another.‘
http://www.juancole.com/2007/04/parliament-bomber-was-probably.html
Ive also emailed your blog item to Cole. not sure if he will be interested.
Thank you brian
Ladybird, any further development on the Sarafiya bridge story? Have any more eye witnesses come forward?
Brian
No witnesses, but every Iraqi writer agreed that this is a US setup, still early just wait, in the coming days there will be others.
Ladybird, i just read this in Felicity Arbutnots recent article:
‘A bit of modern — by Iraq standards — history destroyed this week is the Al Sarafiya Bridge, built by the British in another Mesopotamian adventure, in the early 1900’s. Unlike many of Iraq’s wondrous bridges spanning the Tigris and the Euphrates, it survived the 1991 carpet bombing, but not now the invasion. Whilst accounts differ, from a truck bomb (and there are plenty of reports of trucks, vans, cars being stopped the allied troops and their owners later finding bombs in them) one eyewitness, Farhan Sudani, states he saw a missile dropped from a US helicopter.‘
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070414&articleId=5384
Farhan Sudani, who seems to be a Shiite businesss man:
‘Farhan Sudani, a 34-year-old Shiite businessman who lives near the bridge, said the blast woke him at dawn.
“A huge explosion shook our house and I thought it would demolish our house. Me and my wife jumped immediately from our bed, grabbed our three kids and took them outside,” he said.‘
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:1f7eCB1ZPqQJ:www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news1.htm+farhan+sudani&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=au
Thank you brian for the link
I didn’t know that Felicity wrote about this
Whats curious is that Felicitys article is the only one that mentions Sudani and the helicopter. Most of the rest that use his name dont mention the helicopter (check google and you will see what i mean).…Felicity Arbutnot needs to be questioned on where she got that story from. Is she making it up, or has that bit of evidence been concealed by the MSM?
Here is my search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sudani+sarafiya+helicopter
I will check this