Roj Bash Kurdistan

Kirkuk Now

A bomb blast at one of the cafés of Kirkuk has killed 33 people and left 26 others wounded

The bomb detonated in a popular café on Friday, July 12 at 10:30 pm. A security source told Kirkuk Now on the condition of anonymity “The death toll of last night’s blast in the Siahi Café in the Yaki Huzairan neighborhood has reached 33.”

“Another 26 were injured in the blast and majority of them are young,” the source added.

Despite the early speculations that the blast was due to a suicide bomber, there are currently reports that it was a planted bomb, as the police forces are yet to settle this speculation for public.

“The bomb exploded inside a popular cafe where young people congregate after breaking the fast and play a famous Chinese game practiced during Ramadan. The casualties are mostly young and single people from the region.” Kirkuk Now’s Karwan Salhi reported.

Karwan Salhi – Kirkuk Now

http://kirkuknow.com/english/index.php/ ... e-bombing/

BBC News

Kirkuk hit by deadly bomb attack. At least 38 people have been killed in a bomb attack in a cafe in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, officials say.



The blast happened shortly after 22:00 local time (19:00 GMT). More than 26 people were wounded.

Cafe customers were reportedly marking the end of the day's fast for Ramadan.

It comes after more than 40 people died in a series of bombings and shootings across the country, including in Kirkuk, on Thursday.

Many of those targeted were members of the security forces.

In one of the attacks, 11 people were killed as mourners gathering for a funeral were hit in Muqdadiyah, north-east of Baghdad.

Contested

At least five other people were killed in earlier attacks on Friday. Four policemen died when a checkpoint was targeted in the northern city of Mosul while a senior police officer was shot dead in Sharqat, north of Baghdad.

More than 2,500 Iraqis have died in violent attacks since April, according to UN figures released last week.

The recent surge in violence comes amid heightened tensions between Iraq's Sunni and Shia communities, and claims by the Sunnis that they are being marginalised by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Shia-led government.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the latest bombing in Kirkuk.

With its massive oil reserves, the city - home to a mixture of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen - is one of the most bitterly contested of Iraq's disputed territories.

"We don't know why we were targeted today," Yahya Abdulrahman, the owner of a cafe in the same area as the bombing, told Reuters news agency.

"Those that were targeted today are people of Kirkuk from all its components."

Link & Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23297734

The bombs in Iraq all take place in where there are high populations of Arabs

Time to get rid of the Arabs

Make Kirkuk a safe KURDISH city

Kirkuk Now

It was a bloody ending for the Clasico of Kirkuk, a café which has been named after the famous El Clasico, the matches between the two giant Spanish football clubs, Real Madrid Club de Futbol and Futbol Club Barcelona.



It was a bloody ending for the Clasico of Kirkuk, a café which has been named after the famous El Clasico, the matches between the two giant Spanish football clubs, Real Madrid Club de Futbol and Futbol Club Barcelona.

It was a bloody ending for the Clasico of Kirkuk, a café which has been named after the famous El Clasico, the matches between the two giant Spanish football clubs, Real Madrid Club de Futbol and Futbol Club Barcelona.

In the late evening of Friday, July 12, the Clasico café which is located in the Yaki Huzairan neighborhood of Kirkuk was the target of a deadly blast leaving dozens killed and injured.

It was 10:00 pm, and the people of Kirkuk, after a long, tiring and boiling day of fasting were heading to the café to rest and spend their time with friends, but the blast ended their rest.

One of the witnesses whose home is opposite of the café is Khalil Ibrahim. Khalil told Kirkuk Now “I was sitting in my garden, suddenly there was blast, more powerful than an earthquake. Body parts were thrown into my garden I ran toward the scene, I was too confused to recover the dead or help the injured.”

The blast made the headlines of the most of the local and international news agencies but yet the exact number of the causalities is not known and whether the blast was due to a suicide bomber or was a planted bomb is also still not clear.

The general health director of Kirkuk, Sabah Amin Dawdi told Kirkuk Now “The death toll of yesterday’s blast is 39 deaths but there are also another two bodies that are not indentified making it 41.”

Dawdi stated that the numbers of the injured are 31 with four of them being severely injured, and they have therefore been transferred to the hospitals of Sulaymaniah.

One of the most heartbreaking parts of the whole story is that of a family who has lost four sons in the blast. Imad Rahman, who is brother of one of those killed in the blast, said “My brother was an athlete, and he was usually going to the café. He headed out and said that he is going to the café, and just five minutes after his departure he was killed in the blast and we were handed over his body from the Forensic Department.” Four cousins of Imad were also killed in the blast.

According to witnesses, the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber dressed in white but these statements have not yet been verified by the police while others have stated that the attack was carried out by planted bomb in the café.

The blast again marks the heavy question of the security forces of the city. Ali Askar who lives nearby, teased the security plans of the police and security forces, saying “We want the police forces not to have any plans; every time they announce that they have sturdy plans blasts occur right after their announcements.”

“The police cannot protect themselves. How come they can protect me and my family? The families of the security officials are living abroad that is why they don’t care about security issues in the city,” Ali added.

In addition to the silence of the security forces of Kirkuk, there has not yet been any group to claim responsibility for the blast but as usual, it is the extremist Islamic groups who are being accused.

Karwan Salhi – Kirkuk Now

http://kirkuknow.com/english/index.php/ ... s-clasico/