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Bomb explodes near Iraqi school Children killed in Iraq bombing
(about 4 hours later)
A suicide bomber has blown up a truck near a police station and a school in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing at least 12 people. Nine children were among 12 people killed when a suicide bomber blew up a truck in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police say.
More than 130 were injured in the blast, police said. A further 192 people were injured in the blast, which happened when a bomber drove a truck laden with explosives into a barrier at a police station.
Many of the victims were children from a nearby primary school, police said.
In other violence, the handcuffed bodies of 19 workers kidnapped north of Baghdad have been found.In other violence, the handcuffed bodies of 19 workers kidnapped north of Baghdad have been found.
US Senator John McCain, leading a congressional delegation to Baghdad, has insisted the US-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad is working. In Kirkuk, police said the attacker rammed concrete barriers surrounding the police criminal investigation department and detonated explosives hidden under a load of flour.
The suicide bomber rammed a truck into concrete barriers surrounding Kirkuk's police criminal investigation department, detonating explosives that had been hidden under a load of flour. The building was partially destroyed and the blast was heard across the city, reports said.
At least 20 children who had been playing at a nearby school were among the wounded, Brig Gen Sarhat Qadir said, but he could not say how many. Hospitals were said to be overrun with the injured, many of them school children.
The bodies of 19 Shia workers from Baghdad's Shorja market were found on Monday, a day after they were kidnapped at a fake checkpoint, officials said. "We were at the last lesson and we heard the explosion," schoolgirl Naz Omar told the French news agency AFP.
Things are better and there are encouraging signs US Senator John McCain "I saw two of my class mates sitting near the window. They fell on the floor, drenched in blood."
Gunmen stormed their minibus on Sunday as they returned home to the restive northern province of Diyala. Some reports suggested US troops had been injured in the blast, but there was no immediate confirmation from US military authorities.
The bodies were found handcuffed and blindfolded near a water treatment facility in Morariyah village, police said. 'Encouraging signs'
All had died from gunshot wounds to the head, hospital officials said. In Baghdad, the bodies of 19 Shia workers from the city's Shorja market were found.
Struggle continues I believe that the signs are encouraging, but please don't interpret one comment of mine in any way to indicate that this isn't a long, difficult struggle Senator John McCain
In Baghdad, Republican presidential hopeful Sen McCain told a news conference that there were "encouraging signs". The workers were kidnapped on Sunday at a fake checkpoint, officials said. Gunmen stormed their minibus as they returned home to the restive northern province of Diyala.
"Things are better and there are encouraging signs," he said. The bodies were found handcuffed and blindfolded near a water treatment facility in Morariyah village, police said. All had died from gunshot wounds to the head, hospital officials said.
"I've been here ... many times over the years. Never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able go out into the city as I was today. Meanwhile, US Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain, who is leading a congressional delegation to Baghdad, has insisted the US-Iraqi security crackdown there is working.
"I'm not saying 'mission accomplished,' 'last throes,' 'dead-enders' or any of that." He told a news conference on Sunday that there were "encouraging signs".
"I've been here ... many times over the years. Never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able go out into the city as I was today," he said.
But he said there was a long way to go.
"I believe that the signs are encouraging, but please don't interpret one comment of mine in any way to indicate that this isn't a long, difficult struggle."
Six US soldiers were killed in roadside blasts south of Baghdad at the weekend.Six US soldiers were killed in roadside blasts south of Baghdad at the weekend.
Four were killed Sunday as they responded to an earlier blast that killed the first two, the US military said.
Iraqi figures estimate civilian deaths caused by violence across the country rose by 13% in March - to 1,861 - despite the security crackdown in Baghdad.Iraqi figures estimate civilian deaths caused by violence across the country rose by 13% in March - to 1,861 - despite the security crackdown in Baghdad.