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Twin bombings kill 57 in Iraq

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, FEB. 1. At least 57 people were killed and several more injured in a double suicide bombing at the headquarters of the two main Kurdish parties in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.

The attack killed Irbil's Governor, Akram Mantik, the Deputy Prime Minister, Sami Abdul Rahman, the Minister of the Council of Ministers Affairs, Shawkat Sheik Yazdin, and the Agriculture Minister, Saad Abdullah.

The toll, according to a Kurdish Minister, could reach 140. The nearly simultaneous attacks on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) appear to be the deadliest since the August 29 suicide car bombing in Najaf which had killed Ayatollah Baqir al-Hakim and more than 100 others.

The blasts took place in packed halls when top Kurdish officials were greeting people on the occasion of Id-ul-Azha. Security, according to Kurdish sources, was relatively lax because of the festive occasion.

Contrary to the several other suicide car bombings in Iraq, the bombers in today's attacks came on foot and blew themselves up in close proximity to their targets.

While Irbil, compared to the rest of Iraq, has been comparatively peaceful, the presence of Ansar ul-Islam, an offshoot of the Al-Qaeda has been reported in the mountains surrounding the city.

According to Mohammed Ihsan, Minister for Human Rights for the Kurdish regional government, out of the estimated 140 fatalities, 60 people from the PUK and 80 from the KDP might have been killed in the twin attacks.

Casualties have been rushed to three hospitals in the city after the attacks, which took place around 10.30 a.m., local time.

Analysts point out that the Kurdish parties might have been attacked because they have backed the United States' occupation of Iraq.

Besides, the double strike might have been carried out to discourage the United Nations from re-entering Iraq on grounds of security.

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