Baghdad:
A car bomb and a suicide blast ripped through a football match in north Iraq on Friday, killing
25 people and leaving around 100 wounded, an interior ministry official said.
The attacks struck at around 1500 GMT during the second half of a match between two local teams in an unprotected ground in the predominantly Shiite Turkmen town of Tal Afar, 380 kilometres (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Many people were gathered to watch the match," Hussein Nashad, who attended the match, told AFP by telephone from a hospital in Tal Afar where he was being treated for shock.
"We heard a loud explosion and the people behind me shielded me from the shrapnel," the 29-year-old Nashad said.
"I ran away, but then I heard someone shout 'Allahu-akbar' (God is greatest), and then there was another explosion," he added.
Initial reports from Tal Afar said 10 people were killed when a suicide car bomb ripped through the football ground.
Friday's attacks were the deadliest to strike Tal Afar since July 9, when a double suicide attack targeting the home of a police sergeant and his brother killed 35 people and left 61 others wounded.
25 people and leaving around 100 wounded, an interior ministry official said.
The attacks struck at around 1500 GMT during the second half of a match between two local teams in an unprotected ground in the predominantly Shiite Turkmen town of Tal Afar, 380 kilometres (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Many people were gathered to watch the match," Hussein Nashad, who attended the match, told AFP by telephone from a hospital in Tal Afar where he was being treated for shock.
"We heard a loud explosion and the people behind me shielded me from the shrapnel," the 29-year-old Nashad said.
"I ran away, but then I heard someone shout 'Allahu-akbar' (God is greatest), and then there was another explosion," he added.
Initial reports from Tal Afar said 10 people were killed when a suicide car bomb ripped through the football ground.
Friday's attacks were the deadliest to strike Tal Afar since July 9, when a double suicide attack targeting the home of a police sergeant and his brother killed 35 people and left 61 others wounded.
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