Bomb at Police Station Kills Four Iraqi Civilians

A car bomb exploded this morning at a police station in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing at least four civilians and wounding 10 other people, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The 8:45 a.m. attack took place at the Rahimawa police station in the north-central part of the city. U.S. military forces were dispatched to the scene to assist Iraqi police, and the victims were transported to hospitals.

According to initial reports, no Americans were killed in the attack.

“As far as I know they are all Iraqis,” Lt. Col. Dan Williams said.

The blast was the latest in a string of bombings to target Iraqi security forces and others seen as cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation, killing more than 200 people, most Iraqis, this year. On Feb. 1, two suicide bombers killed more than 100 people at two Kurdish political party offices in the city of Irbil.

On Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the recent series of attacks, which he linked to Al Qaeda, have failed to deter Iraqis from joining their nation’s fledgling police and security forces.

Although the attacks have driven international nongovernmental organizations out of Iraq and flattened several police stations, Rumsfeld said the deaths of police officers and civilians have turned a substantial part of Iraqi public opinion against the insurgents and had little effect on recruiting for the Iraqi army, civil defense forces and police.

“Instead of acquiescing they are still in line to join the police, to join the army,” he said.

Rumsfeld made the remarks en route to the Persian Gulf, his fourth trip to the region since the Iraq war began.

Although he singled out Al Qaeda, Rumsfeld said the identities of many foreigners captured in Iraq remained unknown. “Some of these people have 13 different passports and 20 different aliases,” he said.

Rumsfeld arrived Sunday evening in Kuwait City, where he met with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheik Sabah al Ahmed al Jabbar al Sabah and senior U.S. commanders in the Persian Gulf.

Early today, the secretary flew to Baghdad on a previously unannounced visit to assess security in Iraq.

Sanders reported from Baghdad and Hendren from Kuwait City.