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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Many dead in northern Iraq blasts | Many dead in northern Iraq blasts |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| At least 18 people have been killed and 65 injured in several suspected suicide bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to local police. | At least 18 people have been killed and 65 injured in several suspected suicide bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to local police. |
| Reports say one blast occurred close to the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - the political party of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. | |
| A police station and jail were also said to have been hit by the blast, and reports say many injured were police. | |
| There has been a sharp rise in violence in the city in recent months. | There has been a sharp rise in violence in the city in recent months. |
| Kirkuk is disputed by Sunni Arabs and Kurds, and correspondents say its final status is a sensitive issue in Iraq. | Kirkuk is disputed by Sunni Arabs and Kurds, and correspondents say its final status is a sensitive issue in Iraq. |
| A recent dispute over the raising of the Kurdish flag over government buildings has also aggravated those divisions. | |
| Machine gunner | |
| A lorry containing a bomb exploded near a compound housing offices of the two main Kurdish political parties - the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani - as well as a police station, jail and TV station. | |
| Eyewitnesses said the suspected suicide bomber fired a machine gun towards civilians before detonating the lorry. | |
| There were reports of further blasts at the house of a local tribal leader and in a pedestrian part of the city. | |
| It is unclear what the main target was. |