Suicide Bombing in Northern Iraq Kills 21 People

At least 21 people were killed on Tuesday when a suicide car bomber struck a busy commercial street in Kirkuk, a mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkoman city in northern Iraq. The attack was the latest in a wave of spectacular suicide operations that have killed more than 160 Iraqis since Friday, with most of the victims being Shiites. The bombing also injured 24 people, according to police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader.

Key Takeaways:

• A suicide car bomber killed 21 people in Kirkuk, a mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkoman city in northern Iraq, on Tuesday.
• The attack was part of a wave of spectacular suicide operations that have killed more than 160 Iraqis since Friday, with most of the victims being Shiites.
• American military casualty tolls have also been on the rise, with three U.S. soldiers killed on Tuesday and another killed on Monday by a roadside bomb near Habaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad.
• The U.S. command said a soldier was killed Monday by a roadside bomb near Habaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad.
• Two other soldiers from Task Force Freedom were killed Saturday by small arms fire while on patrol in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
• The U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003 have reached at least 2,100, according to an Associated Press count.
• At least 1,638 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's figures.
• Insurgents fired a mortar shell at a U.S. ceremony transferring one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in Tikrit to Iraqi control, but the shell failed to explode.
• The U.S. ambassador, the top American commander, and robed tribal sheiks were forced to scurry for cover as the round whistled overhead.
• The attack was the most significant transition of real estate thus far, with 28 other coalition operating bases having already been turned over to Iraqi Security Forces control this year.

Statistics:

• 21 people killed in the suicide bombing in Kirkuk on Tuesday
• 24 people injured in the bombing
• 160 Iraqis killed in a wave of spectacular suicide operations since Friday
• 2,100 U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003
• 1,638 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's figures
• 3 U.S. soldiers killed on Tuesday
• 1 U.S. soldier killed by a roadside bomb near Habaniyah on Monday
• 2 other soldiers from Task Force Freedom killed Saturday by small arms fire in Mosul

Sources:

• The Associated Press
• U.S. command in Baghdad
• Arabic satellite television stations
• Al-Jazeera television
• Presidential adviser Lt. Gen. Wafiq al-Samaraei
• U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
• U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey
• Provincial governor, Hamad Hamoud Shagtti
• Iraqi Security Forces