45 killed by Iraq truck blast
Iraq's autonomous Kurdish regions have been largely free of violence since 2003's US-led invasion
Also In The News
|
Tony Blair has revealed that he will step down as prime minister on June 27th. |  |
Sunday, 13, May 2007 08:14
At least 45 people have been killed after a truck laden with explosives was driven into a political party's office in Iraq's Kurdish north.
More than 70 people were wounded in the suicide attack, with the town of Makhmur's police chief warning that the death toll was likely to rise as rescuers searched through rubble of the Kurdistan Democratic party's (KDP) office.
Makhmur lies 30 miles south of Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq that has been largely free of the sectarian violence that has blighted the rest of the country since the US-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein four years ago.
But today's attack comes four days after 15 people were killed in a similar truck bombing in Irbil.
Renowned Kurdish writer Abdul Rahman Delaf, the mayor of Makhmur - which is not within the Kurdish-controlled region of Iraq - was among those wounded by today's suicide attack.
The KDP's leader Massoud Barzani is the head of Iraq' self-governing northern region.