Suicide car bomber kills six in Iraq

Six people were killed in northern Iraq Thursday in a terrorist act conducted by suicide car bomber, police said.

Photo: Suicide car bomber kills six in Iraq

The blast occurred around 8 a.m. in Kirkuk, a mixed city 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, said police Brig. Sarhad Qadir.

The bomber's apparent target was the convoy of a senior Kurdish police officer, Brig. Khattab Omar, who heads the city police department's quick response force, Qadir said.

Omar was driving in a six-car convoy when the bomber rammed into his vehicle, Qadir said. Associated Press Television News footage showed a charred Iraqi humvee being towed from the scene of the blast.

Omar survived with serious injures to his chest and head, and was being evacuated to a larger hospital, Qadir said.

Three police officers and three civilian bystanders were killed, and at least 21 total people injured, he said.

Many of the wounded were children who had been walking to school when the bomber struck. APTN footage from inside a nearby hospital showed a young girl in a school uniform, covered with blood. A child's shoe could be seen peeking out from under a tarp covering bodies of the dead.