Bombers attack soccer game in north Iraq, 8 dead

By Jamal al-Badrani

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Insurgents attacked players and spectators at a soccer match on Friday in volatile northern Iraq, killing eight and wounding 120 as al Qaeda warned of "dark days colored in blood" for the country's Shi'ite majority.

One attacker drove a pick-up truck full of explosives onto the soccer pitch, targeting athletes, while two suicide bombers strolled into the crowd of onlookers, police and witnesses said.

The blasts took place in Tal Afar, a town predominantly inhabited by Shi'ite Turkmen about 60 km (40 miles) west of the violent city of Mosul, where Sunni Islamist insurgents such as al Qaeda remain active.

"There were around 250 people watching the match, mostly out of boredom because there is no entertainment in Tal Afar," said local resident Ali Jaafar.

"Suddenly we saw a pick-up in the middle of the field. The players were suspicious so they ran and as expected it turned out to be a suicide car bomber. The spectators began to run away but two suicide bombers were in the crowd."

Tal Afar has been regularly bloodied in the seven years of warfare unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, as insurgents sought to exploit deep divides between minority Kurds in Iraq's north and the country's Arab majority.

"We had information about a week ago that there were cars ready to be used as bombs but we honestly didn't expect that they would use them in a soccer field," said a security official in Tal Afar, who did not wish to be identified.

The more seriously wounded were evacuated by U.S. military helicopters.