Friday, August 10, 2007
Car bomb in Kurdish area of Kirkuk
Security
(AP) — A car bomb struck a market in a Kurdish area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, police said. South of Baghdad, the military said a U.S. helicopter was forced down, leaving two soldiers injured. The attack in Kirkuk, a disputed oil-rich city that has seen a recent rise in ethnic tensions, occurred while the capital remained relatively calm under a driving ban aimed at preventing such attacks during a major Shiite pilgrimage.
The blast tore through the stalls as the market was packed with afternoon shoppers buying vegetables and household goods in a predominantly Kurdish area in southern Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad. Police initially said it was a suicide attack, but police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader later said it was a parked car bomb. Qader said at least eight people were killed and 45 were wounded.
Tensions have increased in Kirkuk as Kurds seek to incorporate the oil-rich city into their autonomous zone in northern Iraq — a move opposed by Arabs and Turkomen in the area. The area also has seen an increase in violence by militants believed to have fled the operations in the Baghdad area.
The blast tore through the stalls as the market was packed with afternoon shoppers buying vegetables and household goods in a predominantly Kurdish area in southern Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad. Police initially said it was a suicide attack, but police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader later said it was a parked car bomb. Qader said at least eight people were killed and 45 were wounded.
Tensions have increased in Kirkuk as Kurds seek to incorporate the oil-rich city into their autonomous zone in northern Iraq — a move opposed by Arabs and Turkomen in the area. The area also has seen an increase in violence by militants believed to have fled the operations in the Baghdad area.
