Nine children killed in Iraq suicide bomb attack

A SUICIDE bomber killed eight Iraqi schoolgirls and a toddler in the northern oil city of Kirkuk yesterday as suspected Sunni militants executed 21 Shi’ite workers.

The bomber blew up his truck full of flour and explosives near a girls’ primary school and police station, killing 12 people, including the nine children, a hospital doctor said.

Another 178 people were wounded in the blast that caused extensive damage and happened as US troops were visiting the police station, Kirkuk district police commander Major General Torhan Yussef Abdul Rahman said.

Many of the wounded were pupils at the nearby school and local residents, after the suicide bomber blew up the truck outside the criminal investigations department in the predominantly Kurdish district of Rahimawa, Mr Rahman said.

Fifth-grade schoolgirl Naz Omar, who sustained shrapnel wounds to her head and legs, described the horrific scene after the blast: “We were at the last lesson and we heard the explosion. I saw two of my class mates sitting near the window. They fell on the floor, drenched in blood.

“They could not speak. I was terrified. I said God is Great. I need my mother. I need my father,” she said adding that books in the room were covered in blood.

The suicide bomber was driving a truck with supplies of flour before he launched the explosion, police said.