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Iraq market truck bomb kills 105 | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A deadly truck bombing in a busy market in northern Iraq has killed 105 people and injured 240, police said. | |
The morning blast destroyed the market in the small town of Amirli, south of Kirkuk, killing many people instantly and trapping dozens in the rubble. | |
It was the most deadly single attack in Iraq since April, correspondents say. | |
It came as 29 people were killed in separate violence, including 22 people who died overnight in Diyala province when a suicide bomber hit a cafe. | |
Kirkuk referendum | |
The truck bomb struck Amirli on a busy Saturday shopping morning, destroying several buildings around the heart of the market, police said. | |
I heard the cries of my child, then I heard nothing else until I woke in hospital Sukaina Abdul RazakAmirli housewife | |
Rescuers were forced to move injured people to Tuz Khurmato, the nearest major town, some 45km (28 miles) away, and some were said to have died on the way. | |
Others were taken on to Kirkuk, the largest city in the region, for more intensive treatment. | |
"I heard the cries of my child, then I heard nothing else until I woke in hospital," housewife Sukaina Abdul Razak told the AFP news agency in Kirkuk. | |
"I don't know the fate of my husband and my family. They were all in the kitchen, but I was in my room." | |
Correspondents say the market bombing could have been linked to political developments in the region, where a referendum on the status of Kirkuk province is due to take place by the end of this year. | |
Kirkuk lies outside Iraqi Kurdistan but is claimed by many Kurds for their national capital. | |
Officials in Diyala said the bomber who struck on Friday night targeted a busy cafe used by the Shia Kurdish community. | |
The small village is in a close to the border with Iran. | |
In other violence, police said a family of seven sleeping on a Baghdad roof died when a mortar hit the building. | |
The dead reportedly included a couple and their four children, aged nine to 17, as well as a relative. | The dead reportedly included a couple and their four children, aged nine to 17, as well as a relative. |
Many Iraqis choose to spend hot summer nights sleeping on the roof of their home because of frequent electricity failures. | Many Iraqis choose to spend hot summer nights sleeping on the roof of their home because of frequent electricity failures. |
The US and British military also confirmed new deaths. | |
One British soldier died and three others were injured in southern Iraq during a night of heavy fighting in Basra. | |
The US said nine of its troops have died in recent days, most in Baghdad and two in the western province of Anbar. | |