12 killed by suicide truck bomb

A suicide truck bomb exploded in the city of Kirkuk today killing at least 12 people and wounding another 55, police said.

The truck bomb detonated near the headquarters of the autonomous region’s two main parties – the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said police Col Burhan Tayeb.

The city’s criminal evidence bureau and the main criminal court was also located nearby, he said. Kirkuk is 180 miles north of Baghdad.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is run by Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani, while the president of Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, runs the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Iraq’s Kurdish north has been gaining more autonomy since the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. It has seen significantly less violence than other parts of Iraq.

The death toll later climbed to 18, said police Brigadier Sarhat Qadir.

A gunman sitting beside the suicide bomber opened fire on civilians before the truck slammed into the city’s criminal court and exploded, he said.