163 Iraqis, 2 US Soldiers Killed, Including 105 in Kirkuk Triple Bombings, 28 Executed by Death Squads on July 16, 2007

The Iraq News Agency (INA) reported the following news, on July 16, 2007.

- A suicide truck bomber hit the offices of the National Union of Kurdistan, the party of Talabani, Kurdish security forces, and the Beshmega forces. The explosion killed 105 people and injured 130 most of whom were members of the security forces and Beshmerga Kurdish soldiers.

- Two US soldiers were killed, and an F-16 crashed yesterday shortly after flying from the Balad air base. The pilot parachuted safely.

- Five soldiers were killed in Bob Al-Sham, north of Baghdad.

- Two people were killed in Abu Dashir neighborhood south of Baghdad as a result of a mortar attack.

- 22 bodies of Iraqis executed by death squads were found in Baghdad, six more were found in Mosul.

- 30 Iraqis were killed and 30 were injured in various areas, according to an INA detailed report.

***

AP Headline: Triple bombings in northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk kill more than 80 people

By YAHYA BARZANJI Associated Press Writer

AP, July 16, 2007

KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) --

A suicide truck bombing followed by two smaller car bombs killed more than 80 people and wounded at least 180 Monday in what's believed to be the deadliest attack in this northern city since the start of the war, police said.

The massive explosion from the truck bomb around noon blasted a 30-foot-deep crater and damaged part of the roof of the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of President Jalal Talabani.

The main street outside the office was strewn with blackened husks of two dozen cars, and at least 10 shops were damaged, as well as part of the fence of the nearby Kirkuk Castle, a historic fortress that is one of the city's most prominent landmarks. The blast killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 183, according to police Brig. Burhan Tayeb Taha.

Twenty minutes later, a car bomb exploded about 700 yards away in the Haseer market, an outdoor Souk frequented by Kurds, Maj. Gen. Jamal Tahir, the police chief, told The Associated Press. The market was largely empty after the first attack, and the explosion caused several injuries.

Hours later, a car bomb exploded in the Domiz region of southern Kirkuk, killing a police officer and wounding six other policemen, Tahir said.

Oil-rich Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, is a center of tensions between Arabs and Kurds, who want to include the area in the autonomous Kurdish region of the north. Violence in the city, though frequent, tends to be on a smaller scale of shootings, roadside bombs and kidnap-slayings. Monday's blasts came just over a week after one of the Iraq conflict's deadliest suicide attacks hit a village about 50 miles south of Kirkuk, killing more than 160 people.

U.S. troops launched a new offensive south of Baghdad on Monday, aimed at stopping weapons and fighters from moving into the capital, the military said.

It did not say where the new sweep, codenamed Marne Avalanche, was taking place. In recent days, U.S. commanders have said they plan new operations to cut off a supply route southwest of the city, running from western Anbar province. An offensive has been ongoing for the past month in a region southeast of Baghdad.

A string of attacks Monday in the capital killed at least 19 people.

In the deadliest, a roadside bomb exploded near a passing Iraqi army patrol on the northeastern outskirts, killing five soldiers and wounding nine, an army officer said.

A suicide car bombing in Baghdad struck a police checkpoint on a major road leading to a major Interior Ministry building inside the Green Zone. Five policemen were killed and 25 people wounded, a police official said.

Another car bomb exploded in the central district of Karradah, killing one person, wounding three and setting nearby shops ablaze, a police official said.

A third car bomb exploded in the garage of a man's home in eastern Baghdad, killing his two daughters. The man told police he had been kidnapped in the south of the capital Sunday night, but was released. When he returned home, the car exploded, a police official said. Investigators found a timer in the wreckage, the official said.

Other deaths in Baghdad were caused by mortars, shootings and roadside bombs, according to police. On Sunday, 22 bullet-riddled bodies were found dumped in various locations of Baghdad, the latest victims of apparent sectarian violence, police said. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the reports.

The military said an American soldier died from wounds received Sunday by a bombing in Ninevah province, northwest of Kirkuk. Another soldier died Sunday of a non-battle related cause in the southern city of Diwaniyah, the U.S. military said Monday.

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