Violence Kills Fifty More in Iraq

BAGHDAD: In bomb blasts and other incidents of violence almost 50 people were killed in Iraq on Tuesday.

A powerful car bomb exploded in southern Iraqi city of Kufa on Tuesday, killing 16 people in the attack.

"The final toll of the attack in Kufa is 16 killed and 70 wounded," a spokesman for the provincial health department, told foreign news agency.

The security forces have cordoned off the area and relief operation continued.

On Tuesday, a suicide attack on a police station in Jalawlah, killed two police and wounded 22 others, mostly civilians.

In Baghdad itself, a bomb exploded killing two people and injuring six others, according to medical sources.

Gunmen shot dead a policeman in Diwaniya, while another police official gunned down in southern Iraq city of Ammara.

Meanwhile, a group Islamic State of Iraq has claimed in videotape that it has kidnapped five Iraqi National Guards men and four police officials from Diyala province.

The group has demanded release of all Sunni women prisoners from Iraq jails within 72 hours.

Kufa Car Bombing

According to another report, a car bomb struck a market in the holy city of Kufa on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 25,police and hospital officials said.

The explosion occurred at 10 a.m. as the open-air market was packed with shoppers, about 400 meters (yards) from the main mosque in the city, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

The 10 killed included women and children, the officials said. A school and the mayor's office also were located in the area.●