Region | Iraq
Female suicide bomber strikes in Iraq
A total of 15 people were killed and 35 wounded when a female suicide bomber blew herself up among policemen having lunch north of Baghdad yesterday, Iraqi sources said.
- Reuters
- Published: 14:18 June 22, 2008
- A resident grieves the death of his father after a suicide bomb attack, outside a hospital morgue in Baquba.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Baghdad: A total of 15 people were killed and 35 wounded when a female suicide bomber blew herself up among policemen having lunch north of Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi sources said.
The attack took place in Baquba, capital of multi-ethnic Diyala province, where Al Qaida fighters have sought to create tension despite a succession of military offensives that have put the group on the back foot.
Police said the woman walked over to a group of policemen as they ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant then detonated explosives under her clothing.
Police and hospital sources said 15 people were killed in the attack, just outside a court house in Baquba, 65km north of Baghdad.
The US military said the blast killed 14 people including 7 policemen.
At a hospital morgue, white sheets covered most of the dead. A man wailed over a body lying on a stretcher.
At least a dozen female suicide bombers have carried out attacks in the past six months, mostly in Diyala and Baghdad.
Security officials have blamed the bombings on Al Qaida, which they say has sought to recruit women because they can sometimes escape strict security checks on men.
Violence in Iraq has dropped to a four-year low, but yesterday's bombing was the second big attack in the past week.
US forces have blamed a rogue Shiite militia group for a truck bomb that killed 63 people in Baghdad last Tuesday. That was the deadliest attack in Baghdad in more than three months.
US officials accuse Al Qaida of carrying out scores of large-scale bombings, killing thousands of people in Iraq.
A sustained military campaign against Al Qaida has pushed the group out of its strongholds in Anbar province in the west and parts of Baghdad in the past year.
Al Qaida regrouped in the northern city of Mosul, but its network was broken there.
Share this article
Popular in News
News Editor's choice
-
Al Qaida returns to Manhattan
Trial in US federal court would be just the theatre Khalid Shaikh Mohammad wants
-
Obama's Tibet test
The US president's snub of the Dalai Lama could embolden China
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
