After so many years they are still doing it....they will be truly admired if they use it for good instead..
Suicide bomber kills at least 55 at northern Iraq restaurant
Story Highlights
Attacker reportedly walks into crowded eatery near Kirkuk, detonates vest
Attack occurs during Eid al-Adha religious holiday marking end of hajj
Kirkuk at center of power struggle among ethnic groups in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber in northern Iraq attacked a restaurant during a Muslim holiday Thursday, killing at least 55 people and wounding 109, a local police official said.
The attack occurred just north of Kirkuk in a packed restaurant called Abdalla Kabab during lunch hour, a Kirkuk police official said.
Initial reports indicated a suicide bomber got out of a car and strode into the restaurant, where he detonated his explosives vest.
It happened during the religious holiday of Eid al-Adha when many Iraqis go to parks, markets and restaurants. The restaurant is on the main road between Kirkuk and Irbil, the capital of Iraq's three-province Kurdish region.
The official said the restaurant has a play area for children and is busy during the holiday period, which comes at the end of the hajj pilgrimage.
An Interior Ministry official provided slightly lower casualty figures -- 47 dead and 102 wounded.
Tension has rippled for years through Kirkuk, a restive city where Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens have been jockeying for political power.
Kurds believe the city, in Tameem province, is historically Kurdish and should be incorporated into the Kurdish region. Turkmens and Arabs have opposed that move.
The Iraqi Constitution has called for a referendum on whether Kirkuk and environs should be incorporated into the Kurdish region -- which comprises Duhuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniya provinces. But that vote has been delayed.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.
Suicide bomber kills at least 55 at northern Iraq restaurant
Story Highlights
Attacker reportedly walks into crowded eatery near Kirkuk, detonates vest
Attack occurs during Eid al-Adha religious holiday marking end of hajj
Kirkuk at center of power struggle among ethnic groups in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber in northern Iraq attacked a restaurant during a Muslim holiday Thursday, killing at least 55 people and wounding 109, a local police official said.
The attack occurred just north of Kirkuk in a packed restaurant called Abdalla Kabab during lunch hour, a Kirkuk police official said.
Initial reports indicated a suicide bomber got out of a car and strode into the restaurant, where he detonated his explosives vest.
It happened during the religious holiday of Eid al-Adha when many Iraqis go to parks, markets and restaurants. The restaurant is on the main road between Kirkuk and Irbil, the capital of Iraq's three-province Kurdish region.
The official said the restaurant has a play area for children and is busy during the holiday period, which comes at the end of the hajj pilgrimage.
An Interior Ministry official provided slightly lower casualty figures -- 47 dead and 102 wounded.
Tension has rippled for years through Kirkuk, a restive city where Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens have been jockeying for political power.
Kurds believe the city, in Tameem province, is historically Kurdish and should be incorporated into the Kurdish region. Turkmens and Arabs have opposed that move.
The Iraqi Constitution has called for a referendum on whether Kirkuk and environs should be incorporated into the Kurdish region -- which comprises Duhuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniya provinces. But that vote has been delayed.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.
