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Deadly Bombings in Kirkuk Aim at Kurdish Militia

10 February 2011 01:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A series of car bombs shook the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday killing 10 and wounding at least 90 in a large-scale assault that appeared aimed at a local Kurdish militia, APA reports quoting â€œThe New York Timesâ€.
The bombings came two days after a group called Ansar Al-Islam, which has been linked to Al Qaeda, posted leaflets saying it would attack the militia because it had arrested female Muslims. It was not clear whether the militia, Asayish, had arrested the women or why.
Around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday a pickup truck apparently carrying milk exploded near the militiaâ€™s headquarters, destroying the building, according to a local law enforcement official.
A minute later a car exploded near a police patrol about a half-mile away, said the official, Brig. Gen. Sarhad Khadir. Minutes after that a third car bomb exploded near a police patrol just a few blocks from the first explosion.
The authorities believe the pickup truck was driven by a suicide bomber, General Khadir said.
At least one child, two women and two police officers died in the attacks, he said.
â€œI was really shocked when the first explosion happened,â€ said Aras Omar, 31, a shop owner who suffered wounds to his leg and hand. â€œI went outside the shop to see what is happening; after a minute a second explosion went â€˜boom.â€™ The windows of the shop were broken, and the police car close to me, I saw it burning with two policemen inside it. I canâ€™t remember after that. I found myself in the hospital.â€
Wazera Hassan, 45, was sitting on her couch when the truck exploded.
â€œThe explosion has destroyed my house, the doors, windows and everything is gone,â€ Ms. Hassan, who sustained wounds to her stomach and face, said in an interview at a local hospital. â€œI was sitting on the sofa and fell on the ground when it happened.
â€œI am very sad because my friend that got married just last week was killed in the explosion. I saw people burning in the next building where I live.â€
Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen have long struggled over control of Kirkuk, which is believed to be the most oil-rich city in Iraq.
Kurds in particular want Kirkuk to be part of their semi-autonomous region, while officials in Baghdad want the city to be under their control.
Under Saddam Hussein, the government brought Arabs from different parts of the country to Kirkuk in the hopes of maintaining control, offering them land and money to live there.
Elsewhere in Iraq, an improvised explosive device killed two soldiers and wounded two others in the city of Mosul. In Baghdad, six people were injured after an improvised explosive device was detonated in the Shiite neighborhood of Jamila, and two others were injured in a similar explosion in Wazariya, a mostly Sunni neighborhood in north Baghdad.