Twelve people have been killed and at least 24 wounded in a bombing just after morning prayers at a Sunni mosque in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
The explosion occurred as worshipers were leaving the Al Quds Mosque in the Aden neighborhood, near the Baba Gurgur Park in the south of the city after prayers at the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Kirkuk’s provincial police chief, Brig. Gen. Jamal Tahir Bakir, said security measures had been stepped up, especially on the entrances to the oil-rich city.
“Our security forces have taken all the necessary measures within our capabilities to protect the people during Eid, but unfortunately, terrorists were able to penetrate the city and strike innocent people once again,” Bakir told the Reuters news agency.
Iraq-based Al Mada Press cited an unnamed police source as saying the wounded were being treated in the Azadi Hospital and that the bomb had been a roadside IED that exploded near the mosque.
Map showing the area around the Baba Gurgur Park
The Timing Of The Attack
The oil-rich province of Kirkuk has been contested between Arab and Kurdish groups since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with frequent attacks and bombings. Kirkuk city is the most ethnically diverse in Iraq, home to a mix of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds and a small Christian population, although the city’s current exact ethnic breakdown is unknown. Kirkuk city, which lies just outside the autonomous region of Kurdistan, saw its Kurdish population expand following the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, when hundreds of thousands of internally-displaced Kurds and Turkmen returned to the city either to reclaim property inside the city or reside in camps on its eastern edge. Meanwhile, Arabs and Turkmen have been firmly opposed to Kurdish rule over Kirkuk, fearing that would be be a initial move towards incorporate Kirkuk into the autonomous Kurdistan region.
Tuesday’s attack comes amidst the deadliest violence in Iraq since 2008, with more than 5,000 people dying since the start of the year. Attacks by Sunni and Shia groups have escalated amid Sunni anger at the al-Maliki Government over its anti-terrorism measures, detentions, and attacks on protesters.
Video: Iraq Analysis — Missing The Point About The Violence
(Featured Photo: Man at the site of the bomb attack in Kirkuk — Reuters)
