- KIRKUK, Iraq: Two bomb blasts targeting security forces in different parts of Iraq Monday killed two people and wounded 20, underscoring Iraq’s instability, though the nation’s prime minister insisted that security forces have been mostly successful in curbing insurgent attacks.
Police said a car bomb killed two people and injured 10 in Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city torn by ethnic tensions.
Another bomb in Baghdad also wounded 10, including four Iraqi soldiers.
In Kirkuk, 290 kms north of the capital, police said a car exploded as a security patrol was driving by. The blast killed two people who happened to be near the car when it blew up. Five police were among the 10 wounded.
Kirkuk has long been plagued by disputes among Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen over land and oil fields. A triple bombing in the city last week killed 27 people and wounded at least 60.
A few hours later, a car bomb exploded next to an army patrol in the Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah injuring six bystanders and wounding four soldiers.
Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki blamed the continued violence on what he described as the last remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He said his failure so far to appoint defense and interior ministers to run Iraq’s security forces has not hampered their ability to protect the country.
“We were able to stop these terrorist groups,” Al-Maliki said at a press conference with visiting Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas. “Our security forces are continuing to chase these gangs and to prevent them from resuming their past activities.”