At least 80 killed, 140 wounded in Kirkuk car bombings

Above: The crater left behind when a suicide bomber detonated a truck wired with explosives near a Kurdish political party's offices, which wsa followed by two other car bomb blasts Kirkuk today. The coordinated attack was the deadliest in Kirkuk since the occupation began.

KIRKUK, Iraq - Twin suicide car bombings exploded within 20 minutes of each other in Iraq's north on Monday, killing at least 80 people and wounding around 150 in attacks targeting a Kurdish political office and ripping through an outdoor market, police said.

The attacks in Kirkuk began around noon when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed truck near the concrete blast walls of the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

The explosion blasts a 30-foot-deep crater in the pavement and collapsed part of the roof of the one-story PUK office. Outside the offices, the burnt shells of more than two dozen vehicles were in the street.

Soon after, the second bomber attacked the Haseer market, 700 yards away, destroying stalls and cars, said Kirkuk police Brig. Sarhat Qadir.

The Haseer market — an outdoor souk with stalls of vegetable and fruit sellers — is frequented by Kurds in Kirkuk, a city where tensions are high between the Kurdish and Arab populations. At least 80 people were killed and around 140 wounded, said police Brig. Burhan Tayeb Taha.

Read the rest at Yahoo News

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