- Title: IRAQ: SUICIDE BOMB IN KIRKUK KILLS AT LEAST FOUR PEOPLE
- Date: 20th November 2003
- Summary: (EU) KIRKUK, NORTHERN IRAQ (NOVEMBER 20, 2003) (REUTERS -- ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV OF TWO CARS DAMAGED IN THE BLAST (3 SHOTS) 0.17 3. SLV/SV AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN A HUMVEE JEEP (2 SHOTS) 0.28 4. SV ARMED IRAQI POLICE 0.32 5. SV/SLV OF DAMAGED CARS (2 SHOTS) 0.43 6. LV OF BOMB SITE 0.48 7. SV NURSE TREATING CHILD'S WOUNDS A
- Embargoed: 5th December 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KIRKUK AND BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVACT8O9Y5RRX67064M41C2K9TSY
- Story Text: Suicide bomb in northern Iraq kills at least four
people and wounds several more, including children.
A suicide bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk
exploded near the offices of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), about 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad
on Thursday (November 20).
The huge blast shattered windows at a nearby primary
school, wounding several children.
Hospital officials put the death toll at four plus the
bomber, whose remains were brought to the hospital in a bag.
Doctor Tallat Aljazeri said nearly 40 people were
wounded in the blast.
"Today we had an explosion near the PUK party. There
were forty cases of injuries. Three cases died -- dead on
arrival and the others have injuries. Four of them were
admitted to the operation theatre the others treated
conservatively," Aljazeri said.
Kirkuk's local PUK leader Jalal Jawhar said he
believed his office was the target of the attack. PUK's
leader, Jalal Talabani, is currently head of Iraq's
U.S.-appointed Governing Council.
Determined to quell what appears to be a deepening
anti-American insurgency throughout the country, U.S.
forces pushed ahead with new offensives overnight, dropping
bombs and firing missiles at suspected guerrilla hideouts.
At a news conference in Baghdad, Brigadier General
Martin Dempsey, Commanding General of the 1st Armoured
Division, said that guerrilla attacks against Coalition
forces had decreased significantly.
"I'd say that from the period prior to Operation Iron
Hammer to now, the attacks are down about 70 percent and
we're working as hard as we possibly can to keep it that
way and drive it to zero, " Dempsey said.
Operation Iron Hammer has focused on three large
neighbourhoods of Baghdad, home to around five million
people and has uncovered evidence of fairly well structured
guerrilla cells operating with a degree of coordination,
Dempsey said.
The aggressive offensives -- dubbed Iron Hammer, Ivy
Cyclone and Ivy Cyclone Two -- were launched nearly two
weeks ago, after the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter
near ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of
Tikrit, to try to hit insurgents with full force.
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