|
Series of blasts rock Kirkuk
03/10/2003 11:37 - (SA)
Kirkuk, Iraq - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up late on Thursday outside a dry cleaners used by US troops in Kirkuk, and six other explosions rocked the northern city, leaving at least two soldiers wounded, officials said.
The suicide bombing came after the explosion, which included a roadside blast that destroyed a US Humvee vehicle and wounded two American soldiers, said a senior security source who asked not to be named.
Lieutenant Shaker al-Riyashi of the civil defence said the suicide bombers were two youths who wore explosive belts strapped to their bodies, "but we were not able to identify them because they were badly mutilated".
The attack at the dry cleaners occurred about 23:30 (19:30 GMT) when the shop was empty. It triggered a fire that was quickly doused, Riyashi said.
The US military said they had no report of any incident.
The attacks came as the top US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, said his forces were facing a deadlier foe, and after three US soldiers were killed in separate attacks in the country's central region.
Iraqi police chief Colonel Khattab Abdullah said the suicide bombing was the first incident of its kind to take place in Kirkuk since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime almost six months ago.
Six explosions
At least six explosions caused by rocket propelled grenades and mortars shook several parts of the city within 20 minutes, Abdullah said, adding that there were no immediate reports of casualties.
According to Abdullah the blasts occurred in residential sectors in the south, centre, east and southwest of the city.
At least one of the explosions was heard near a US position in the city, witnesses said.
A senior security source said US troops rushed to the scene of the first blast in the southwestern sector of Kirkuk and transferred to a hospital two soldiers wounded in the attack. The source said he believed the blast was caused by a bomb.
The source, who declined to be named, said the second blast was caused by a mortar which targeted a US position in the centre of Kirkuk. The same location was hit by a second mortar about 10 minutes later.
The fourth blast was also caused by a mortar that hit a police station in eastern Kirkuk, he said, adding that two other blasts targeted two US positions in the centre of the town, including the military's civil affairs office.
Minutes after the last explosion a correspondent said he heard US warplanes fly over Kirkuk while US troops and local police began patrolling the city.
Less than two hours later, calm returned to Kirkuk where the local police were still patrolling the streets to look for the assailants.
Sapa-AFP
- AFP
|
News
