Five children killed in north Iraq bombing

KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A bomb blast killed five children celebrating the Islamic Eid al-Fitr festival at the end of Ramadan Friday in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police said.

The explosion wounded 20 people, mostly children, who were in a crowd, the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA reported.

Fifteen civilians -- all women and children -- and 10 militants were killed in a military operation in the Lake Thar Thar region, the BBC said. The military received intelligence that Iraqi al-Qaida leaders were meeting in the area and were conducting surveillance, a statement said.

"We regret that civilians are hurt or killed while coalition forces search to rid Iraq of terrorism," U.S. Army Maj. Brad Leighton, a multinational forces spokesman, said in the statement. "These terrorists chose to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence."

Meanwhile, a car bomb detonated outside a cafe in eastern Baghdad, killing at least five people and wounding 20. Two civilians died when a roadside bomb detonated in western Baghdad.

An Iraqi police officer and an insurgent were killed in gun battles north of Baquba.