Twin suicide bombings at KDP and PUK offices in Erbil killed senior Kurdish officials during Eid Al-Adha celebrations, marking a major attack on Iraqi Kurdistan's political leadership.
Key Facts
- Attack type
- Double suicide bombing
- Date
- 1 February 2004
- Targets
- KDP and PUK party offices
- Occasion
- Eid Al-Adha celebrations
- Suspected perpetrators
- Al-Qaeda or Ansar al-Islam
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tensions in Iraqi Kurdistan intensified amid the post-invasion instability of 2003–2004. Al-Hayat newspaper speculated the attack may have been retaliation for the capture of bin Laden's courier Hassan Ghul in the Kurdistan Region, with Ansar al-Islam and al-Qaeda identified as possible actors.
On 1 February 2004, two suicide bombers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies at the Erbil offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan as hundreds gathered for Eid Al-Adha. A former government minister, the deputy governor of Erbil Governorate, and the city's police chief were among those killed.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor pointed to al-Qaeda or Ansar al-Islam as likely responsible parties, highlighting the vulnerability of Kurdish political institutions and the reach of Islamist militant networks into the Kurdistan Region during Iraq's post-invasion period.