Car bombs kill 10 in northern Iraq's Kirkuk

KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct 15 (Reuters) Four car bombs exploded in apparently coordinated attacks in the restive northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk today, killing 10 people and emptying the streets as terrified residents stayed indoors.

US and Iraqi troops patrolled the city as helicopters hovered overhead. Most shops were closed, residents said.

The bombs exploded in quick succession just before midday, three of them detonated in suicide attacks, police said. In the afternoon two more car bombs exploded, wounding 14 people.

In one of the worst attacks, a suicide bomber blew up his car outside a teachers' institute for women, killing four students. Two of them, who had been standing at the main gates, were burnt beyond recognition.

A second suicide bomber killed four people near the local headquarters of a force responsible for guarding government facilities, mostly oil infrastructure. It was close to a girls' school, but no deaths were reported there.

''Why is this happening in the month of Ramadan?'' asked one angry resident as he swept up shards of shrapnel and debris that the blast had scattered in front of his home.

US military officials had predicted a surge in violence during the Muslim holy month and say they expect a continued increase for the next two weeks.

Another suicide bomber exploded his vehicle near an Iraqi police patrol in the southern Kirkuk district of Doumiz, killing two people.

The fourth near-simultaneous car bomb blew up outside a sweet shop, causing no casualties.

Just a week ago, US and Iraqi forces began a major crackdown in the city to curb rising violence.

''These attacks are a response to our operation. They are targeting civilians,'' said a police official, who did not want to be named.

Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed city claimed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. A spate of near simultaneous car bombs in the city on September 17 killed more than 20 people.

REUTERS LL BST2052