IRAQ: Car bomb kills nine in Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, two killed in separate attacks in Baghdad

Record ID: 859260

  • Title: IRAQ: Car bomb kills nine in Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, two killed in separate attacks in Baghdad
  • Date: 25th October 2005
  • Summary: (W3) SULAIMANIYA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 25, 2005) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND WRECKAGE OF CAR AT SITE OF BLAST IRAQI POLICE INSPECTING WRECKED REMAINS OF VEHICLE PULL IN TO CLOSE SHOT OF ENGINE CROWD OF PEOPLE AT SITE OF BLAST DEBRIS OF CAR BOMB SCATTERED ON STREET MORE OF WRECKAGE OF CAR BOMB BLOOD ON GROUND ANOTHER DAMAGED VEHICLE (2 SHOTS) WIDE VIEW OF SCENE
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • City:
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVANWPQJ6RVOR98Q0XDUTBVBROV
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A car bomb exploded on Tuesday (October 25) in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya and a hospital official said at least nine people had been killed.
    Police and witnesses said the blast was caused by a car bomb which exploded near a building housing regional officials who deal with Kurdish militia forces, known as the peshmerga.
    Sulaimaniya, in the northern mountains, has been among the most tranquil spots in Iraq, rarely troubled by the violence that has racked the country in the past two years, and has been the focus of considerable business investment.
    The blast came on a day when the final result of Iraq's constitutional referendum are expected to be announced.
    All the indications are that the constitution, which enshrines Kurdistan's broad autonomy, will be passed. Sunni Arab insurgents fighting the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad opposed the charter.
    Kurds have also been attacked by Sunni Arab supporters of ousted President Saddam Hussein, who went on trial in Baghdad last week. Among the accusations he faces are genocide against Kurds and the gassing of Kurdish civilians in 1988 at Halabja, 80 km (50 miles) from Sulaimaniya.
    Sulaimaniya is the base of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. The PUK is one of the two main Kurdish parties that dominate the region.
    In Baghdad two civilians were killed in separate incidents on Tuesday.
    One civilian was killed and another was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in western Baghdad, police and witnesses said.
    The bomb, which was planted in the middle of a road in Baghdad's western district of al-Iskan went off as a joint patrol of Iraqi and U.S. forces was driving by.
    "They planted a bomb here in the middle of the street. A child was killed and a young man was wounded in his abdomen," said Mohammed Latif, who was near the site of the attack.
    According to police there were no casualties among the Iraqi forces.
    The U.S. military was not immediately available for comment on the attack.
    A car bomb exploded near a joint patrol of Iraqi police and U.S. forces in the al-Yarmouk district in western Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding five others, police said.
    Casualties from the two attacks were taken to al-Yarmouk teaching Hospital for Treatment.
    Wounded man, Abbas Sahib, said, "I left the citizenship headquarters and hired a taxi to go to Al-Amil district and as I was about to get in the taxi the explosion happened. The explosion took place after a U.S. convoy drove past. I did not know what happened after that."
    The attacks followed three coordinated suicide attacks on a Baghdad hotel complex used by foreign journalists on Monday (October 24), which killed at least 15 people.
    The bombings, in front of rolling television cameras, broke a relative lull in insurgent violence over the past two weeks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register