A suicide bomber killed at least 60 people and wounded 150 more when he blew himself up at the office of a Kurdish party in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Wednesday, a health official said.

The bomber blew himself up at the local offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which also served as a recruiting center for police.

Witnesses said they saw 25 bodies being removed from the area.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party was one of two main parties in a Kurdish coalition that came second during polls on Jan. 30.

Police and security officials said a large crowd was gathered outside the building and recruiting center when the suicide bomber struck.

The attack in the Kurdish city will step up pressure on the new Iraqi government, which was sworn in on Tuesday but is incomplete with five permanent ministers and two deputy prime ministers yet to be named.

Iraq's new leaders are trying to ease sectarian tensions which have deepened since the elections turned Shi'ites and Kurds into the most powerful groups and sidelined Sunnis, who were dominant under Saddam Hussein.

Source: Agencies/China Daily