BAGHDAD // The US military blamed al Qa'eda in Iraq yesterday for a suicide car bombing in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, while an Iraqi official said the death toll in the attack had risen to 25. An Iraqi security official, meanwhile, said the attacker was a Sunni Turkoman who had been detained by the US military but was released four months ago under an Iraqi amnesty law. The bomber may have avoided detection at a checkpoint leading to the busy market by having a man ride with him in the passenger seat, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The passenger got off soon after the car passed the checkpoint, he added, citing witness reports and forensic tests. Suicide car bombers are known to ride alone in most cases, so having a passenger next to them could help them avoid detection. Tal Afar, a frequent target of suicide bombings over the past five years, bans males from driving alone. An indefinite curfew was imposed on the predominantly ethnic Turkoman town, the official said, adding the death toll had risen to 25 after four people died from their wounds.
Initial reports said the blast was caused by an explosives-laden car parked near a fruit and vegetable market. But Capt Charles Calio, a US military spokesman, said it was a suicide attack. "One al Qa'eda in Iraq terrorist died when he detonated a vehicle-borne bomb," Capt Calio said in an e-mailed statement. The blast occurred amid heightened tensions among ethnic groups throughout northern Iraq because of a dispute over control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
The city is claimed by the Kurds, who want to annex it to their self-ruled region, but its Arab and Turkomen residents want to remain under central government control. The top US diplomat and military commander in Iraq condemned the attack in Tal Afar, 420 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen David Petraeus said in a joint statement yesterday that the "senseless" attack will further unite the Iraqi people to reject al Qa'eda in Iraq and the "indiscriminate" violence it inflicts on civilians.
*AP
