Blasts rock Iraq following al Qaeda threats, 32 dead

KIRKUK – At least 32 people were killed yesterday in Iraq, including 18 in five car bomb attacks in the oil city of Kirkuk, after warnings by al Qaeda of vengeance for the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Security measures in Baghdad were being beefed up in anticipation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s long awaited new security plan for the capital, almost a week after the killing of the al Qaeda in Iraq leader in a US air strike. According to the defence ministry, the night curfew in the capital will begin two and a half hours earlier at 20h30 and cars will be banned from the streets on Friday afternoon during prayer time.In addition, there will be massive deployments of US and Iraqi troops to troubled neighbourhoods in the capital, said General Abdel Aziz Mohammed, without specifying exactly when the measures would come into effect.The attacks on Kirkuk came as US President George W Bush was to hold one hour of video conference talks with Maliki on the second day of a major assessment of the situation in Iraq.”The best way to win this war against an insurgency is to stand up a unity government which is capable of defending itself but also providing tangible benefits to the people,” Bush said at the Camp David retreat in Maryland.The five car bombs, several of them suicide bombs, in Kirkuk hit an ethnically diverse city that has not been known for large car bombs, but rather mostly individual assassinations between ethnic and sectarian groups.Another suicide car bomb attempt in central Kirkuk targeting headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party was foiled when guards shot dead the driver of a booby-trapped car as he drove towards them, without detonating the car.The first car bomb exploded at around 07h30 in the city’s Tisaeen market in an area largely inhabited by Shi’ite members of the city’s Turkmen community, killing 13 people, including two policemen, and wounding 18.Approximately half an hour later, a suicide car bomb attempted to ram the main police headquarters, prompting police to open fire on it.The car exploded, missing its target, police commander Major General Torhan Yussef, but two policemen died and eight civilians were wounded.The three other car bombs, one of which was a suicide attack, exploded in different parts of the city, killing three more policemen and wounding over a dozen, including Colonel Taher Salah al-Din, the police chief for the southern Kirkuk Hurriyah neighbourhood.The bombing campaign comes after the arrest of eight suspected insurgents by US and Iraqi forces in two operations on Sunday in Kirkuk.”I would characterise the events today as uncharacteristic of the situation here in Kirkuk, but not surprising due to recent events,” said a US military official based in the city.On Wednesday, the US military dropped a pair of 500 pound bombs on Zarqawi’s safe house, killing him and yielding a “treasure trove” of intelligence about the organization.Al Qaeda in Iraq said it had chosen a new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, an Egyptian, and promised to continue the work of slain militant leader, in an Internet statement.- Nampa-AFPAccording to the defence ministry, the night curfew in the capital will begin two and a half hours earlier at 20h30 and cars will be banned from the streets on Friday afternoon during prayer time.In addition, there will be massive deployments of US and Iraqi troops to troubled neighbourhoods in the capital, said General Abdel Aziz Mohammed, without specifying exactly when the measures would come into effect.The attacks on Kirkuk came as US President George W Bush was to hold one hour of video conference talks with Maliki on the second day of a major assessment of the situation in Iraq.”The best way to win this war against an insurgency is to stand up a unity government which is capable of defending itself but also providing tangible benefits to the people,” Bush said at the Camp David retreat in Maryland.The five car bombs, several of them suicide bombs, in Kirkuk hit an ethnically diverse city that has not been known for large car bombs, but rather mostly individual assassinations between ethnic and sectarian groups.Another suicide car bomb attempt in central Kirkuk targeting headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party was foiled when guards shot dead the driver of a booby-trapped car as he drove towards them, without detonating the car.The first car bomb exploded at around 07h30 in the city’s Tisaeen market in an area largely inhabited by Shi’ite members of the city’s Turkmen community, killing 13 people, including two policemen, and wounding 18.Approximately half an hour later, a suicide car bomb attempted to ram the main police headquarters, prompting police to open fire on it.The car exploded, missing its target, police commander Major General Torhan Yussef, but two policemen died and eight civilians were wounded.The three other car bombs, one of which was a suicide attack, exploded in different parts of the city, killing three more policemen and wounding over a dozen, including Colonel Taher Salah al-Din, the police chief for the southern Kirkuk Hurriyah neighbourhood.The bombing campaign comes after the arrest of eight suspected insurgents by US and Iraqi forces in two operations on Sunday in Kirkuk.”I would characterise the events today as uncharacteristic of the situation here in Kirkuk, but not surprising due to recent events,” said a US military official based in the city.On Wednesday, the US military dropped a pair of 500 pound bombs on Zarqawi’s safe house, killing him and yielding a “treasure trove” of intelligence about the organization.Al Qaeda in Iraq said it had chosen a new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, an Egyptian, and promised to continue the work of slain militant leader, in an Internet statement.- Nampa-AFP