Soldier wounded in blast near Kirkuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi army soldier was wounded when an improvised explosive device went off near his patrol southwest of the province of Kirkuk on Friday, according to a security source within the joint coordination center in the city. “The IED exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in a village in the district of al-Riad, (40 km) southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The soldier was rushed to receive treatment at a nearby hospital,” he added. Meanwhile, the same source said, an IED planted by unidentified gunmen on the road between the exhibition grounds and the air base in Kirkuk was defused by coalition forces today (Feb. 20). The source did not reveal further details about any of the two incidents. The oil-rich city of Kirkuk lies 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P) 1