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New Iraq carnage leaves 15 dead New surge of violence hits Iraq
(about 2 hours later)
A series of car bomb attacks in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk has killed at least eight people and injured dozens of others, police say.A series of car bomb attacks in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk has killed at least eight people and injured dozens of others, police say.
Three attacks appeared to target police while the fourth bomb went off near a teacher training college, they said.
Earlier in Baghdad, two bombs hit the convoy of a senior interior ministry official, killing seven people.Earlier in Baghdad, two bombs hit the convoy of a senior interior ministry official, killing seven people.
The attacks are the latest in a surge of violence of all types in Iraq during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. And doctors said at least 31 bodies were found in the town of Balad, mainly Sunnis killed in apparent revenge for the earlier killing of 14 Shias.
Kirkuk - an ethnically mixed city 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad - was the scene of a major security operation by Iraqi and US forces last weekend. Iraq has seen a surge of violence in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
In Kirkuk, police say the four attacks came at five minute intervals, injuring more than 60 people.
All involved car bombs, some of which were detonated by suicide attackers, police said.
Two of the bombs were aimed at police units, another was reported to have gone off in a crowded market.
The fourth targeted the local headquarters of a security agency that protects government installations, but hit a training college for female teachers, killing two students, police said.
"A suicide bomber blew himself up as the girls were leaving the school. Two of them were completely burned in the flames," Brigadier General Adel Ibrahim of the Kirkuk police told AFP news agency.
ConfusionConfusion
Police said Sunday's bombs went off at five-minute intervals, and that two of them were suicide attacks. The city police chief is believed to have been the target in one case, although it is not clear whether he was in the area at the time.
Sources told the BBC the city's chief of emergency police and chief of city police were injured and some of their guards killed in two of the bombings.
In a third incident, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol.
The fourth device went off near a college, but Reuters news agency said police thought the target was a nearby Iraqi security headquarters.
Correspondents say there is confusion over the casualty figures, with some reports saying 11 people died.Correspondents say there is confusion over the casualty figures, with some reports saying 11 people died.
In Baghdad, Sunday's bombing killed five passers-by and two security men. Kirkuk - an ethnically mixed city 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad - was the scene of a major security operation by Iraqi and US forces last weekend.
The interior ministry's head of finance, Hala Shakr Salim, survived the attack as her motorcade drove through the eastern district of Mustansiriya. Many people were arrested and stores of weapons confiscated.
There has also been a spate of sectarian killings over the weekend in the city of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) west of Baghdad. But the BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says that bloodshed often resumes as soon as such operations wind down.
A curfew was imposed after more than 20 Sunnis were killed - in what is thought most likely to be revenge for the earlier killing and decapitation of 17 Shias. Kirkuk has large populations of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, is located in the main oil producing region in northern Iraq, and has often been hit by violence in the last three years.
Sectarian killings
In Baghdad, Sunday's bombing killed five passers-by and two security men, police told AFP.
Senior official Hala Shakr Salim survived the attack in Baghdad
The interior ministry's head of finance, Hala Shakr Salim, survived the attack on her motorcade as it drove through the eastern district of Mustansiriya.
There has also been a spate of sectarian killings over the weekend in the town of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) west of Baghdad.
A curfew has been imposed after the bodies of at least 31 Sunnis were found, two days after at least 14 Shia workers were found in an orchard with their throats slit and hands and legs bound.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that although violence has increased during Ramadan in recent years, all types of attack are at record highs since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Military losses mountMilitary losses mount
Separately, it was announced that five US soldiers died on Saturday - four in two incidents in Baghdad, the fifth in Fallujah to the west.Separately, it was announced that five US soldiers died on Saturday - four in two incidents in Baghdad, the fifth in Fallujah to the west.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says this brings to about 50 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq so far this month - the highest number of deaths they have suffered in any month since January 2005. Our correspondent says this brings to about 50 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq so far this month - the highest number of deaths they have suffered in any month since January 2005.