Nine killed in bombings in Iraq

Two car bombs struck a disputed northern Iraqi city on Wednesday, part of a series of attacks across the country that left at least nine people, including two children dead, officials said, according to The Hindu.

Kirkuk deputy police chief Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman Youssef said a parked car bomb went off in the city center at around 3 p.m., killing three civilians and injuring eight. An hour later, another parked bomb exploded in the same area and killed four more – two children and their parents as they were traveling in a car nearby.

Provincial Health Directorate chief Sidiq Omar Rasool confirmed the casualty figures.

In the town of Tarmiyah, some 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a police patrol, killing two policemen and injuring eight people, a police official said.

A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attacks but car and suicide bombings are a hallmark of al-Qaida’s Iraq branch.

M.D