The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported from Baghdad Monday morning that at 10am local time an Iraqi Resistance martyrdom fighter attacked one of the largest headquarters of the US Central Intelligence Agency (the CIA) in Baghdad. The massive explosion occurred near Sa'dun Street, very close to the ar-Rashid Hotel. At least 3,000 US security employees work out of the massive headquarters — a scale of operations that strongly suggests that it is the main headquarters for the US state intelligence agency in occupied Iraq. ....The American Associated Press (AP) reported that the blast occurred at 9:45 and that it targeted "a convoy of 4-wheel drive vehicles leaving a complex of major hotels where foreign contractors and journalists reside." ....
In a later dispatch posted at 1:40pm Mecca time, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent presented the version of the incident that he had pieced together from his sources. He wrote that a Resistance fighter driving a 2-ton booby trapped Kia loaded with fruits and vegetables blew up the vehicle at 10am local time. The correspondent estimates that the truck must have been loaded with 1.5 to 2 tons of explosive material. The target building, an old structure formerly used by Iraqi military industry, has been taken over by the CIA and surrounded by a huge concrete wall. Deployed around it are watch points and numerous inspection stations. Large numbers of American snipers are perched atop the building.