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Bombings Shake Kirkuk: Report
16.6.2006
By Samah Samad in Kirkuk (ICR No. 181, 15-Jun-06)
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Officials blame al-Qaeda
for attacks that leave dozens dead and injured.
Security and government officials believe al-Qaeda
loyalists set off a series of car bombs in the
northern Kurdish city of Kirkuk this week as revenge
for the killing of their leader.
Two car bombs targeted local police officials, two
hit president Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan offices in Kirkuk and two roadside bombs
killed 17 people and injured about 52 on June 13,
according to a Kirkuk police source who spoke on
condition of anonymity. Guards also shot a man
believed to be a suicide bomber in a car when he
tried to attack the same PUK office.
On the morning of June 14, another car bomb exploded
in the al-Mas neighbourhood in Kirkuk, where
emergency police and a PUK guesthouse are based but
no one was killed or injured, according to a police
source. The PUK called the attackers terrorists but
otherwise did not comment on the attacks.
Officials believe that the attacks were reactions to
the killing of Abu Musa'ab al-Zarqawi, head of
al-Qaeda network in Iraq, last week. They said the
group was trying to send a message that they are
still powerful and active even though they lost
their leader.
Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 255 kilometres north of the
capital, is among the most ethnically and
religiously diverse places in Iraq and has
experienced a period of relative calm over the last
few months. The attacks came as Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki announced tougher measures to strengthen
security in Baghdad.
"The al-Qaeda organisation [in Iraq] is behind these
operations," said general Sherko Shakir, commander
of Kirkuk's police forces, referring to the
explosions, in a press conference at the Kirkuk
police directorate.
He said police had shut down all entrances to the
town to prevent further attacks but also said police
expected more attacks "because Kirkuk is one of the
safer cities in Iraq, and al-Qaeda's goal is to
undermine security in stable areas in response to
Zarqawi's murder".
The emergency room in Kirkuk hospital was flooded
with victims from the bombings, and some said they
feared that the hospital itself would be attacked.
A hospital source said that some of those injured
died because the hospitals in Kirkuk don't have
enough blood, despite a media appeal for donors.
"Our hospitals don't have enough blood when we need
it," said the source, who also spoke on condition of
anonymity. "The crisis deepens when large-scale
attacks take place and we have to help many
victims."
Samah Samad is an IWPR trainee in Iraq.
iwpr net
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