A bomb exploded in a market in a Kurdish neighborhood of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring at least 23 others, according to Iraqi police.
Col. Ahmed Slamrz said the attack took place at around 9:30 a.m. (local time) at a time when the market was crowded with shoppers, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, a Dutch soldier died overnight after being injured in a grenade attack in the south Iraqi town of Samawa, the Dutch defense ministry said in a communique.
The death was the first to hit the Dutch contingent in Iraq.
Another Dutch soldier was wounded in the attack which took place Monday at around 1750 GMT on a Samawa bridge.
"One of the seriously injured died from his wounds after he was taken to the Dutch base at Camp Smitty," the ministry said.
An Iraqi police officer had said earlier that a passing cyclist threw a grenade at a four-man Dutch patrol in the center of the town, located around 270 kilometers from Baghdad.
Elsewhere, one Russian national has been killed and two others taken hostage in an attack in Baghdad, RIA Novosti quoted the Russian embassy in Baghdad as saying.
The three worked for the Interenergoservice company which was working to restore energy supplies to the war-stricken country, the report quoted officials as saying.
A group of armed men reportedly attacked the Russians as they were returning from work by car in Baghdad on Monday afternoon, the report added.
They had been working to restore an electric power station located around 50 kilometers south of the capital.
Russian officials told RIA Novosti that no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack and that no ransom or other demands had been made for the hostages' release. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
