At least 30 people were killed and nearly 100 injured when the northern
city of Kirkuk was struck by two explosions. Most of the casualties, the
highest since March 29, were identified as police, killed in an attack on
the parking lot of Kirkuk police headquarters on May 19.
The attack took place as the British and U.S. militaries were winding
down their training and support operations in Iraq. On May 22, the British
military was scheduled to end training for the Iraq Navy in the south of the
country.
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"The majority of the casualties were police," Kirkuk Health Department
Sadiq Omar Rasul said.
Kirkuk has been a flashpoint amid rising sectarian tensions in Iraq. The
city, deemed the northern oil capital, was the target of a struggle between
Kurds and Sunnis, particularly ethnic Turks.
About an hour after the police bombing, a senior official was targeted
by a car bomb in Kirkuk. Col. Aras Mohammed and 13 of his bodyguards were
injured in the explosion.
Most of the attacks were attributed to Al Qaida. In March, Al Qaida
fighters struck the provincial council in Tikrit, in which 58 people were
killed.
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