A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed vehicle yesterday outside an Iraqi police station in a Kurdish neighborhood of the ethnically divided northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least 13 people and wounding 51 others, police and hospital officials said.
The attack was the latest in a string of vehicle and suicide bombings against Iraqi security forces and others seen as cooperating with the US-led occupation, killing more than 300 people this year. It was the third blast since late last month to target Kurds in the north.
Kirkuk has also seen rising ethnic tensions as Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen vie for control of the city, located in one of the world's richest oil-producing regions, 300km north of Baghdad.
About 20 policemen had gathered in front of the Rahimawa police station to receive their day's orders when the car exploded at 8:45am, said station chief Colonel Adel Ibrahim. The explosion heavily damaged nearby buildings and destroyed cars. Ibrahim said it was a suicide bombing.
A US military rapid-reaction team came to the scene, as ambulances ferried out casualties and police closed off the area.
At least 13 people were killed, all of them believed to be policemen, and 51 people wounded, said officials at two Kirkuk hospitals. Among the wounded were a boy and four girls from a nearby high school. Lieutenant Abdul Salaam Zangana, a security officer at Al-Jumhuriya Hospital, said 10 of the wounded were in critical condition.
The US military said at least four civilians were killed.
As US officials prepare to hand over power to the Iraqis on June 30, Kurds are pressing to maintain their self-rule region in the north under any future Iraqi government -- and to keep their militias, which they say are needed to protect Kurds after years of oppression under former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.
US administrators oppose the maintenance of any local militias. The 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, which is drafting an interim constitution, is trying to work out a federal system to decentralize government in the future Iraq, but differences have arisen over how much autonomy to give Kurdish areas.
Kirkuk is at the center of the controversy. Kurds view the region as the heartland of their Kurdistan, but it also has Arab, Turkoman and other populations vying for control.
RUMSFELD RETURNS
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday lauded the work of Iraqis stepping forward to help keep peace in their own country while visiting US occupation officials and members of Iraq's new security services.
Details of Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq were closely held for security reasons.
He arrived yesterday morning from Kuwait and traveled by helicopter to the headquarters of the 10th Armored Cavalry Regiment east of Baghdad.
It was his fourth trip to the region since the US-led coalition ousted Saddam.
Rumsfeld met four young members of Iraq's new security forces and told them he was impressed with the progress they were making.
"We're looking forward to seeing Iraqis take over the responsibility for the security of your country," he told them.
At the 10th Armored headquarters, US officers briefed Rumsfeld on efforts to turn increasingly to Iraqi police and civilian defense agencies as the primary providers of security in Iraq, while decreasing the visible US presence.
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