Suicide bomber kills six in northern Iraq

A suicide car bomber struck at an outdoor market Saturday in a northern Iraqi city, killing six people and wounding 54, police and hospital authorities said.

The attack, which took place in the mainly Turkmen city of Tall Afar at the same market where a suicide car bomber killed more than 20 people and injured 72 last month, raises questions about whether Iraqi police are capable of maintaining security in the north, where Al Qaeda in Iraq remains active.

Police said the bomber detonated his explosives-laden car near people gathered around a traffic accident. The market was crowded with shoppers buying food for the evening meal that breaks the daily fast during Ramadan.

“A woman was shouting about her missing child, who was blown from her hand by the blast,” said Asghar Saeed, 52, who suffered shrapnel injuries and a broken leg. “Is it a humanitarian or Islamic thing to do during the holy month of Ramadan?”

Also in the north, Kurdish security forces raided a house in Irbil province, killed a suspected member of an Al Qaeda front group and captured a 17-year-old girl wearing an explosives vest, provincial police said.