The Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in the afternoon of August 19, 2003, killed at least 22 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just 5 days earlier. (The United Nations had used the hotel as its headquarters in Iraq since the early 1990s.) The attack was followed by a second bombing a month later which resulted in the withdrawal of the 600 UN staff members in Iraq. These events were to have a profound and lasting impact on the UN's security practices globally.
Abu Musab Zarqawi, a leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the blast.
Read more about Canal Hotel Bombing: The Bombing, Second Bomb, List of Victims, Suspects, Responses, The World Humanitarian Day
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