Smoke rises from the wreckage of a truck used in the first of two suicide car bombings in Kirkuk,

A girl lies wounded after twin suicide car bombings exploded within 20 minutes of each other in Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, on Monday, July 16, 2007,

A man gestures as he walks past a burning vehicle after a bomb attack in Kirkuk

A man walks past a burning vehicle after a bomb attack in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, July 16, 2007

Vehicles burn after a bomb attack in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, July 16, 2007

A deadly bomb attack in the heart of a small Iraqi town has killed about 105 people, local officials say.

The blast, thought to have been caused by a truck bomb, destroyed the marketplace in Amirli, near the oil city of Kirkuk

Rescuers worked frantically to get the injured to hospitals, but the nearest medical centre to the blast site was some 45km (28 miles away).

Many died instantly in the busy market, but others were trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes.

The trauma of the blast affected young and old, with many families out together when the bomb went off.

The death toll continued to rise throughout Saturday as more of the injured were taken for treatment and pulled from the rubble.

A bombing casualty from the village of Armili is treated in a hospital in Kirkuk, Saturday, July 7, 2007. A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives in an outdoor market Saturday, killing at least 23 people and wounding at least 86 others in a village of Shiite ethnic Turkomen, Armili, 165 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq.

Medics help an Iraqi policeman who was hit by a sniper in Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Friday, July 6, 2007

A man cover the face of Iraqi intelligence officer Hecor Mohammed, after he died in the hospital after he was attacked by gunmen in central Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Friday, July 6, 2007.

A U.S. soldier from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade passes by Iraqi children during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007

A U.S. soldier from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade passes by Iraqis during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007

U.S. Sgt. Vincent Passero from Lakeland, Florida guards the street during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade and an Iraqi policeman walks during their joint patrol in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

An Iraqi women with children passes by a U.S. army vehicle in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007

U.S. Pvz. Paul Bradfoot from Milwaukee guards the street during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

An Iraqi woman with her children watches in front of their home while the U.S. Army patrol leaves the base on their way to Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol at night in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood early on July 6, 2007.

The scene of car bomb attack in southern Baghdad on late July 5, 2007

People try to remove the body of a victim of a car bomb attack in southern Baghdad on late July 5, 2007.

A US soldier secures a house on the outskirts of Baquba in the Diyala Province.

US soldiers patrol the outskirts of Baquba in Diyala Province. Hundreds of troops from the former Soviet republic of Georgia will deploy to border checkpoints in Iraq to help their US allies stem the flow of deadly weapons from Iran.

Iraqis check destroyed trucks in the Habibiyah area in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, July, 5, 2007.

An Iraqi man photographs a boy alongside shoes that belonged to the victims of Tuesday's car bomb in Baghdad.

Boys in the Iraqi Shia area of Sadr City, Baghdad, examine the burnt wreckage of a car destroyed overnight in a US helicopter strike.

Sadr City raids

Homes in Baghdad's Sadr City district bore the scars of a fierce battle on Saturday morning.

Along with the bullet-holes were what appeared to be shell-holes in walls.

US-led forces say they killed only militants in pre-dawn raids but local people say civilians died.

Children were among those hurt in fighting in the densely populated slum.

Some gathered shell cases of freshly fired heavy-calibre bullets from the scene.

Others, like this Shia woman, were in hospital to look after wounded family members.