Turkey condemns twin blasts targeting Turkmen-populated Iraq city

Turkey has strongly condemned twin bombings in a mid-sized city in Iraq's north that killed at least 14 people on Wednesday. Tal Afar Mayor Abdul Aal Abbas al-Obedi said a car parked outside a popular downtown restaurant exploded in the early afternoon on Wednesday. As people rushed to the scene to help, a suicide bomber in the crowd detonated his explosives belt, al-Obedi said. Al-Obedi and local politician Qusai Abbas said 14 people were killed in the mixed Arab-Turkmen city about 150 kilometers east of the Syrian border and 420 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. Both Shiites and Sunnis live in the city. A statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said it condemns the terrorist attacks that target peace and security of Iraqi people, adding that Turkey will continue supporting by all means efforts to restore security, peace and stability in Iraq. The statement underlined that Turkey will continue to stand by Iraqi people in its fight against terrorism. It added that, as always, Turkey is ready to help wounded Iraqi people in the blasts. Tal Afar was a major battleground between US forces and Iraqi insurgents in 2005, and the Americans claimed it as one of their first lasting counterinsurgency victories. It has however seen infrequent but bloody militant attacks in the years since. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but car bombs and suicide bombers are hallmarks of al-Qaida. Al-Qaida frequently targets security forces, as in a Monday attack in the western Iraqi city of Haditha where 25 policemen were killed in a brazen pre-dawn assault by insurgents dressed as government troops. Turkey also condemned the Haditha attack.