Three Bomb-Laden Minibuses Explode

The explosion of three bomb-laden minibuses outside a mosque near an Iraqi Police station is a mass-casualty attack witnessed by the first section. More than 140 people were killed; the soldiers’ partial recordings preserve the event’s proximity while also showing how little could be made visible.

Attack and Immediate Toll

On the same day as the surrounding events, three minibuses filled with explosives detonated outside a mosque near an Iraqi Police station. The blasts killed more than 140 people. The first section was present when the explosions occurred, placing the soldiers at the scene of a sudden civilian catastrophe rather than describing it from a distance.

Witnesses and Recordings

Some soldiers standing on the police station’s roof filmed what they could with digital cameras. The narrator later watched their recordings, but little could be seen in them. The cameras document an effort to capture the event, yet the surviving images offer no clear account of its full scale: the casualty figure is stated, while the footage itself remains limited.

Place in the Narrative

The episode sits within the unit’s continuing exposure to explosive violence in Iraq. Its details are starkly uneven: the number killed is explicit, the first section’s presence is established, but the recordings show almost nothing. That contrast makes the attack legible through its consequences and the soldiers’ position at the scene, not through a complete visual record.