Bomb in Iraq Kurdish village kills 20
Friday, 11 September 2009
MOSUL, Sept (Reuters): A suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into a Kurdish village in north Iraq before dawn Thursday, killing at least 20 villagers and wounding 27, Iraqi police said.
The blast in the village of Wardek, about 390 kms north of Baghdad, seemed calculated to fan ethnic tensions between Kurds and Arabs, whose politicians are embroiled in a bitter dispute over claims to territory and oil.
Women and children were among the dead and at least 25 houses in the village were damaged or destroyed, police said.
Another truck bomber tried to set off a second blast but local Kurdish Peshmerga forces opened fire and killed him before he reached the village's outskirts, police said.
Wardek is 30 kms east of the volatile northern city of Mosul, in Nineveh province, where Sunni Arab insurgents such as al Qaeda and former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party are making a last stand after being driven out of their past strongholds in Baghdad and western Iraq.
Meanwhile, two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in a popular market south of Baghdad Thursday, killing four people and wounding 29, Iraqi police said.
The blasts struck the town of Mahmudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, which has been largely quiet for many months.
The blast in the village of Wardek, about 390 kms north of Baghdad, seemed calculated to fan ethnic tensions between Kurds and Arabs, whose politicians are embroiled in a bitter dispute over claims to territory and oil.
Women and children were among the dead and at least 25 houses in the village were damaged or destroyed, police said.
Another truck bomber tried to set off a second blast but local Kurdish Peshmerga forces opened fire and killed him before he reached the village's outskirts, police said.
Wardek is 30 kms east of the volatile northern city of Mosul, in Nineveh province, where Sunni Arab insurgents such as al Qaeda and former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party are making a last stand after being driven out of their past strongholds in Baghdad and western Iraq.
Meanwhile, two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in a popular market south of Baghdad Thursday, killing four people and wounding 29, Iraqi police said.
The blasts struck the town of Mahmudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, which has been largely quiet for many months.