Cop wounded in southern Kirkuk blast

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi policeman on Saturday was wounded in an explosion that occurred in a southern Kirkuk neighborhood, according to a local security source. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in al-Sinai neighborhood in southern Kirkuk, wounding a policeman from the Northern Oil Company, who was close to the scene of the blast,” the source told IraqiNews.com. The wounded was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, the source noted. Kirkuk, 250 km (156 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, sits on the ruins of a 5,000-year-old settlement. Because of the strategic geographical location of the city, Kirkuk was the battle ground for three empires, Assyria, Babylonia and Media which controlled the city at various times. SS (P) 1