An Australian journalist was killed and nine other people injured in a car bombing in northern Iraq that Kurdish officials blamed on a militant Islamist group.
Security officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)said they believed the Ansar al-Islam group, which Washingtonhas linked with al-Qaeda, was responsible for the bombingoutside the village of Khurmal.
The village is in a mountainous area which is the strongholdof Ansar, close to the border with Iran. Kurds said the area washit in an American missile and bombing attack early today.
"We consider it a terrorist operation by Ansar," said a PUKsecurity official. "It seems the car belonged to a member ofAnsar."
