Baghdad suicide bomber attacks crowd protesting Gaza strikes

Baghdad: A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up on Sunday amid a crowd of demonstrators in northern Iraq who were protesting Israel's airstrikes on Gaza, killing one demonstrator and wounding 16 others, Iraqi police said.

The bomber rode his bicycle into the demonstration of about 1,300 people in the centre of the northern city of Mosul, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with news media.
The demonstration was organised by the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party. The party's Mosul spokesman, Yahiya Abid Mahjoub, complained that police and the Iraqi army had not taken security precautions for the demonstration.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, the officer said.

"The ones who targeted our brothers in Gaza are the same who targeted us in Mosul today. They are agents of Israel," Mahjoub said.

Also on Sunday, police in Fallujah said a bomb exploded on the outskirts of the city, killing two civilians and wounding four others.

A police officer said the bomb exploded in a parking lot where farmers and other merchants gather to buy and sell goods.

Iraq's government also condemned Israel's airstrikes on Gaza, which began Saturday.

In a statement, government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said Iraq is demanding that Israel immediately halt attacks on Gaza and called on the international community "to take the necessary steps to stop this attack."