Car bomb in Kurdish district kills 11, wounds 45
US helicopter also forced down
BAGHDAD -- A car bomb killed 11 people yesterday in a Kurdish district of Kirkuk, police said, and a US military helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing south of Baghdad.
The explosion in the Hurriya neighborhood of multiethnic Kirkuk wounded 45 people, destroyed 25 shops, and set nine cars ablaze, said police Colonel Sarhad Qadir.
The number of attacks has been increasing in the Kirkuk region, including a bombing in July in the town of Amerli that killed about 150 people.
Kirkuk is divided by ethnic tensions that pit Kurds against Arabs and Turkmen, who oppose the Kurds' goal of annexing the oil-producing province to their semiautonomous region.
Market stall owner Salah Amin said he was closing his shop for Friday prayers when the blast threw him down, cutting his arms and legs.
"The extremists and the terrorists from Al Qaeda are behind this explosion because they are against all of Iraq," he said.
He accused Al Qaeda militants of coming from Diyala province to the south, where US and Iraqi forces have taken back cities and towns from the radical movement in recent months.
"They are taking shelter in Kirkuk to destroy the city's security through igniting a war among its residents, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and Assyrians," Amin said.
The attack appeared to raise mistrust among the Kurds, as their leaders evoked past tragedies suffered by the minority under the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"Such an act is proof enough that terrorists are broken now and they are the same criminals whose hands were stained with the blood of the innocents earlier in Halabja and al-Anfal," said Rizkar Ali, a Kurdish politician and head of Kirkuk's provincial council.
He was referring to the 1988 Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds, which included the gassing of 5,000 Kurds in Halabja.
Meanwhile, the military helicopter was forced to land in the town of Yousifiya, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad, although it was not clear if the aircraft had a technical problem, hit utility wires, or came under fire. The area is rife with Sunni and Shi'ite militant activity. The military said that two personnel suffered minor injuries.
Also yesterday, Baghdad remained largely calm with a driving ban still in effect as thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims headed home.
US military officials praised the performance of Iraqi security forces during the pilgrimage Thursday, which saw hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites march to a northern Baghdad shrine, undisturbed by any major violence. The driving ban and curfew imposed on Baghdad for three days were to be lifted at dawn today.
"They have done an absolutely amazing job," said Colonel John Castles, commander of the 2d Brigade Combat Team, 82d Airborne Division, speaking of Iraqi forces who protected the march.
Material from Associated Press was used in this article. 