Suicide bombing in Kirkuk is deadliest in wave of attacks Thirty-five people were killed and 223 injured in a series of bombings throughout Iraq on Wednesday, amid fears that al-Qaeda has returned to take control of Iraqi territories.In Kirkuk, 250 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-laden vehicle outside the offices of a major Kurdish party on Wednesday morning, the deadliest in a wave of morning attacks that killed at least 33 people and injured 145.
The car bomb attack outside Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) headquarters caused widespread damage to other vehicles nearby and shop-fronts on a busy commercial street. The KDP is led by Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraq’s largely autonomous Kurdish region.
Another car bomb targeting Kurdish security forces headquarters in Tuz Khormato, killed eight and wounded 28 people, according to Raed Ibrahim, the head of the provincial health directorate. The blast happened near the offices of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
In Salahuddin province, three people were killed and 10 others wounded after an explosive device was planted in a taxi carrying Iraqi soldiers on their way to work.
A source in the province told Arabstoday that "a taxi carrying Iraqi soldiers from Baghdad to Mosul exploded after occupants stopped at a restaurant. The blast killed the driver and two soldiers. Four other soldiers and 6 civilian bystanders were injured."
In Baghdad, there were five different attacks which left six people dead and 40 injured, while bombings in Baiji, Hawija and Tikrit, all north of the capital, killed three people and wounded seven others.
An al-Qaeda website vowed to begin a new battle in southern areas of Iraq in retaliation against the Iraqi regime's capture of female prisoners. Security was stepped up in central and southern Iraq, but the attacks happened in the west and north of the capital Baghdad.
The United Nations condemned the bombings, urging Iraqi leaders to live up to their responsibilities. Martin Kobler, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, issued a statement highlighting his worries. "I strongly condemn attacks which targeted densely populated areas, including Kirkuk and Tuz Khormato and elsewhere in the country, killing and wounding dozens. I fear that attacks in the disputed areas would increase tensions there," he said. Kobler called on "all Iraqi leaders to live up to their responsibilities and act without delay in order to calm the situation and engage in peaceful dialogue."
In the meantime nine al-Qaeda militants were killed and three Iraqi security officials suffered injuries in clashes near the border area with Syria and Jordan.
A security source in Anbar province told Arabstoday that "armed clashes between members of al-Qaeda and Iraqi security forces near Makr Elzeeb, near Wadi Horan border killed nine members of al-Qaeda, injured two policemen and a soldier."
Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Regional Government, issued a brief statement after the bombings in which is called for the application of Article 140 of the constitution to address the situation in disputed areas.
Elsewhere, a security source in Anbar province told Arabstoday that the funeral of Sunni Iraqi Member of Parliament Ifan Saadoun al-Issawi was called to a halt after a number of improvised explosive devices were discovered on the road leading to the cemetery in Fallujah.
A suicide bomber killed the lawmaker on Tuesday in the western city of Fallujah. The bomber was wearing an explosives belt and blew himself up along with Ifan al-Issawi. The politician was part of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, which holds some posts in Iraq’s loose power-sharing government, but at the same time is the main force in opposition to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s administration. He was also the founder of the local branch of the Sahwa, a group of Sunni Arabs who joined forces with the US military to fight al-Qaeda at the height of Iraq’s insurgency.
Al-Issawi's killing came only after 48 hours after Iraqi Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi survived an assassination attempt in Abu Ghraib, west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Suicide bombings in Fallujah come three days after Iraq's Ministry of Defence said that militants in Jordan and Syria will target demonstrators.
Secretary-general of the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, Mohan Furaiji said that the decision to close the borders with Jordan and Syria came after receiving intelligence information that "some armed groups in Syria and Jordan will target demonstrators in Anbar and Nineveh on the international line linking Baghdad and Jordan."