A bomb in a parked car exploded near a police patrol in Baghdad's downtown shopping district Friday, killing four people including two policemen, the police said. The explosion around noon injured 15 people, mostly civilians, a police officer said. Narby shops and cars were damaged in the explosion.
The officer, citing eyewitnesses, said the suspected bomber had parked his car by some clothing stores in al-Rasheed Street in the center of Baghdad and pretended to go shopping. The attacker fled the scene, the officer added.
A bomb planted among toys near a children's playground in a predominantly Kurdish town north of Baghdad killed one civilian and wounded 17 others, including five children, earlier in the day, a police officer said, according to the AP.
The bomb detonated in the town of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, said police Col. Abbas Mohammed. The explosive device was left in a cart with toys on the sidewalk, some 300 yards from a park where children were playing.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that his country would not be deterred by the possible consequences of invading Iraq if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive against Kurdish militants. "If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid," Erdogan told reporters. "There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country's interests."
A Turkish soldier was killed by a mine Thursday night on Mt. Gabar in southeastern Sirnak province, where 13 soldiers have been ambushed and killed over the past week, local authorities said.
"We are making necessary preparations to be ready in case we decide on a cross-border operations since we don't have patience to lose more time," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey lost 30 people in attacks over the past two weeks. According to Erdogan, Turkey has long been seeking the cooperation of Iraq and the United States but there has been no crackdown on the Kurdish group of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in Iraq.
"If there are terrorists sheltering and attacking Turkey from Iraqi soil and if they don't do anything then we should do something," Erdogan said.
