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Bush Wars Title: Insurgents detonated a car bomb on Sunday in a protected enclave housing the US and British consulates in Iraq’s oil city of Kirkuk in the latest in a string of deadly blasts, security sources said Car bomb rocks Iraq oil city under “terrorist” assault (AFP) 30 July 2006 KIRKUK, Iraq - Insurgents detonated a car bomb on Sunday in a protected enclave housing the US and British consulates in Iraq’s oil city of Kirkuk in the latest in a string of deadly blasts, security sources said. City leaders described the two-month-old bombing campaign as the work of Islamist extremists bent on terrorizing the population and fomenting civil strife in the ethnically and confessionally mixed city. The blast, which killed two and wounded six, came overnight beside a row of shops in the previously untouched Arafa Naftiya area, a predominantly Christian neighborhood containing the headquarters of the Northern Oil Company and foreign consulates. “The terrorists are no longer targeting police, army, US forces, or political leaders, but are now going after gatherings of civilians to spread fear and hatred in the souls of the innocent,” Rizgar Ali, chairman of the provincial council, told AFP. Since June, Kirkuk has been hit by a series of bomb attacks, killing dozens of civilians at gas stations, in city markets and, most dramatically, in front of the courthouse where 22 people were killed on June 23. On Saturday, six were killed and 17 wounded by a car bomb near a gas station. “We are studying measures to control the deteriorating security situation with local elected leaders,” said Ali. Kirkuk police chief Major General Shirku Shakr Hakim told AFP the Sunni extremist Ansar al-Sunna and Al-Qaeda in Iraq organizations are believed to be mainly responsible for the attacks. “Kirkuk is being targeted because of its oil and its mix of ethnicities and religions that have been living in peace for dozens of years,” he said. The northern city is a fragile mix of Kurds, Sunni Arabs, Turkmen, Shiites and Christians, who for the most part have found ways of resolving their differences through an ethnically and confessionally mixed provincial council. Violence had been restricted largely to drive-by shootings and assassinations, but the bombings which began in June have taken their toll. The fear of explosions has become pervasive throughout the city, and many merchants have closed their stores or placed obstacles on the street to prevent vehicles from parking. The attacks on the city come as the central government has focused on restoring security to Baghdad. A six-week-long security operation there involving 50,000 US and Iraqi forces has failed to stop the rising sectarian and insurgent violence. Another 3,700 US combat troops are now being moved into Baghdad to boost security. Meanwhile in Kirkuk forces are being withdrawn, according to Ali. He said an Iraqi army unit had been redeployed to the oil-refining city of Baiji 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the southwest, creating a security vacuum. Hakim added that they have not received enough funds from the interior ministry for the police forces. “One of the reasons for the deterioration of the security situation in Kirkuk is the neglect of the central government,” he said. Back in Baghdad, the interior minister himself admitted that his institution is in the midst of a shake up following allegations of corruption and involvement in sectarian killing. “I promise a high-level investigation against those who have committed criminal acts and we will take measures against those who engaged in corruption or tortured detainees,” Jawad Bolani said in front of parliament. US military officials in Kirkuk contacted by AFP said that elements of Al-Qaeda in Iraq that were previously not overly active around Kirkuk are hoping to promote civil strife, as they have done farther south. “What is still promising about this place is that the people aren’t falling for it,” said the officer, talking on condition of anonymity. “The people aren’t allowing the attacks to divide them along ethnic lines.” In other violence around the country, a police patrol in Hilla, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Baghdad, was targeted by a roadside bomb that killed two civilians and wounded 10 others. In the northern city of Mosul, a suicide car bomber attacked a police patrol, killing one and wounding three. Meanwhile, British forces killed two gunmen and wounded another after a supply convoy in southern Iraq came under attack southwest of Al Amara, a spokesman said.
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