WORLD> Middle East
Female suicide attackers kill 57 in Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-29 18:29

Even so, Iraqi authorities had been hopeful they could maintain calm this year as the overall levels of attacks have dropped to their lowest point in more than four years.

At least 478 Iraqi civilians have been killed in violence so far this month, representing a 76 percent decline when compared with July 2007, when the death toll was 2,021, according to an Associated Press count.

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The bombings, however, showed the fragility of the gains as insurgents maintain the ability to wage high-profile attacks that inflict a heavy casualty toll. They come ahead of planned US-Iraqi operations aimed at routing insurgents from Diyala province as well as rural hideouts elsewhere in northern Iraq.

Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a spokesman for US forces in Baghdad, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the attacks in the capital and confirmed the bombers were all women, including a teenager.

"As we have previously stated, AQI is not defeated. They are evil and responsible for the most heinous attacks against unarmed, non-combatant civilians," he said.

The attack in Kirkuk killed at least 25 people and wounded 185, the police spokesman said.

The suicide bomber struck shortly after 11 am as Kurdish protesters were gathering to protest a draft provincial elections law that would give them less power in Kirkuk. Kurdish objections over a proposed power-sharing formula have blocked the law from being passed — a move that could delay the nationwide voting until next year.

Startled demonstrators ran for cover in nearby buildings, some still holding up the protest banners and Kurdish flag, a yellow sun against red, white and green stripes.

After the explosion, dozens of angry Kurds stormed the offices of a Turkomen political party that opposes Kurdish claims on Kirkuk, opening fire and burning cars amid accusations that their rivals were to blame. No casualties were reported.

But police blamed al-Qaida in Iraq. Suicide attacks are a signature of the terror group.

Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Burhan Tayeb Taha said the bomber was a woman and that he had seen her remains. The US military confirmed a suicide bombing but said it had no indication the attacker was a woman. Maj. Gen. Jamal Tahir, a Kirkuk police spokesman, said police found a car bomb nearby and detonated it safely.

"I think the terrorists are trying to put obstacles before the peaceful coexistence among Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen in Kirkuk," said Tariq Jawhar, an adviser to the speaker of the Kurdish parliament. "The enemies of a new Iraq are behind these criminal acts."