Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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July 16, 2007

Suicide Bombers Kill 80 in Northern Iraqi City of Kirkuk
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=182956A:A6F02AD83191E16065DF4817479B536C9574F7DCC14957C0 In one attack, a
car bomber struck the local office of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, the party of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani





Iraqi hospital workers wheel a wounded man into a hospital in the oil
rich city of Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, 16 July 2007

Iraqi police say a suicide truck bomber has killed at least 80 people
in the ethnically-divided northern city of Kirkuk.

The bomber Monday drove his truck past security barriers next to an
office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani.

Police say the blast wounded more than 180 people. They warned that
the death toll could rise.

Two other car bombs also exploded in Kirkuk after the first attack,
killing one police officer and wounding four people.



Ethnic Kurdish leaders want to absorb Kirkuk into their autonomous
region but Arab and Turkmen residents oppose the move.

In other violence Monday, a roadside bomb killed five Iraqi soldiers
in Baghdad. Also, mortar shells hit a residential area in southern
Baghdad, killing at least two civilians.

U.S. forces say thousands of troops launched a new offensive in
southern Baghdad today with the aim of cutting off the flow of weapons
and militants into the capital.

The new sweep, called Marne Avalanche, is the latest around Baghdad as
part of the so-called "surge" of 28,000 additional American troops.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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