Iraq Suicide Blast Kills 22 North of Baghdad
Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of a bombing in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013.
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide bomber struck a group of anti-al-Qaida
fighters north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 22 people and
wounding 44 in an attempt to shake confidence in Iraqi security forces,
officials said.
The blast is the latest in a string of particularly lethal attacks
against security forces and civilians. More than 200 Iraqis have been
killed since the beginning of the year.
In Monday's bombing, the attacker mingled with men gathering to
collect their salaries outside one of the anti-al-Qaida militia's
headquarters in the town of Taji, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north
of the Iraqi capital.
Three Iraqi soldiers and 19 members of the Sunni militia known as
Sahwa, or Awakening Councils, were killed, police officials said. Three
medical officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on
condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release
information to reporters.
The Sahwa was formed from Sunni fighters who switched sides and
joined U.S. and Iraqi government forces to fight al-Qaida at the height
of the insurgency. Since then, they have been among the favorite targets
for insurgents, who see them as traitors.
The spike in especially bloody attacks comes at a time of growing
discontent among Iraq's minority Sunnis, who complain of discrimination
by the Shiite-led government.
In recent weeks, Sunnis have staged frequent anti-government
demonstrations drawing tens of thousands of people. At the same time,
protest organizers have distanced themselves from calls by an al-Qaida
front in Iraq to take up arms against the government.
The blast in Taji came a day after several suicide attackers on foot
and in two explosives-laden cars hit a provincial police headquarters in
Kirkuk, also north of Baghdad.
The deputy police chief in Kirkuk, Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman
Youssef, said Monday that 16 people were killed in that attack,
dismissing initial reports of 30 dead.
About 90 people were wounded in the Kirkuk explosion.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, but suicide bombings are a hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Violence has ebbed across Iraq since the peak of the fighting in the
last decade, but deadly bombings and shootings still occur almost daily.
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