Suicide car bomber kills six in northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The attack, which took place in a crowded downtown commercial area packed with people preparing for work, also wounded at least 11 bystanders, many of them civilians, Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir, the police spokesman in Kirkuk. 

The blast burnt three cars and damaged several shops along the street.

Kirkuk, which lies 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, is hotly disputed between Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and the city still harbors al Qaeda militants in its Arab quarter.

Violence across Iraq rose slightly in April and militants have shown themselves still capable of carrying out frequent, large-scale bomb attacks.

Last Wednesday, a truck bomb in a vegetable market in southern Baghdad killed 10 people and wounded 37.

A spike in major bombings in the past few weeks has raised doubts about security gains as U.S. combat troops prepare to withdraw from Iraqi cities next month and Iraq gears up for national elections set to be held early next year.

Photo is an archive image.