Suicide bomber, gunmen kill 33 in Iraq's Kirkuk
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Iraqi rescuers help a man from the scene after a car bombing followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen on a police headquarters in a disputed northern city of Kirkuk, on Feb 3, 2013, killing some 30 people. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Iraqi firefighters distinguish a fire at the scene of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
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Iraqi firefighters and security forces inspect the damage after a car bombing followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen on a police headquarters in a disputed northern city of Kirkuk, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013, killing some 30 people. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A wounded person is carried by soldiers at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
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Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of a bombing in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
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Iraqi firefighters distinguish a fire at the scene of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
Iraqi rescuers help a man from the scene after a car bombing followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen on a police headquarters in a disputed northern city of Kirkuk, on Feb 3, 2013, killing some 30 people. -- PHOTO: AFP
Iraqi firefighters distinguish a fire at the scene of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
Iraqi firefighters and security forces inspect the damage after a car bombing followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen on a police headquarters in a disputed northern city of Kirkuk, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013, killing some 30 people. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AFP
A wounded person is carried by soldiers at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of a bombing in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
Iraqi firefighters distinguish a fire at the scene of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Feb 3, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killing at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters. -- PHOTO: AP
KIRKUK, Iraq (REUTERS) - A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killed at least 33 people in the Iraqi city Kirkuk on Sunday when they tried to storm the police headquarters.
It was the third major attack in several weeks in or near the northern city, an ethnically mixed area of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen at the heart of a dispute over oil and land between Baghdad's central government and the autonomous Kurdistan region.
"A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives hit the entrance of the headquarters and after the blast gunmen in explosive vests attacked with AK47s and grenades, but the guards killed them," a police official said.
The huge car bomb blast tore into the police directorate's concrete facade, destroyed cars outside, and left bodies under rubble at nearby government offices. Police said there were at least two gunmen.
