KIRKUK, Iraq, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A suicide car bomber attempting to reach an Iraqi political compound killed himself and 12 civilians in the northern city of Kirkuk Thursday, reports said.
The New York Times quoted a military official as saying the attack was clearly on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Jalal Talabani, who is also now the rotational leader of the U.S.-formed Iraqi Governing Council.
Most of the blast was absorbed by the perimeter wall of the compound, and the car bomber was not able to get close enough to the building to cause significant damage, the military official said.
There were no injuries among coalition troops, who swarmed and secured the area, about 150 miles north of Baghdad.
The blast came hours after two Iraqis were killed and 12 wounded when a car bomber struck the offices of a U.S.-appointed local council in the town of Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad.
