25 die as bombers target anti-al-Qaida groups
A woman suicide bomber blew herself up outside the offices of an anti-al-Qaida group in Iraq today killing at least 15 people in one of the country’s most violent provinces.
A second attack at a checkpoint manned by Iraqi soldiers and another of the US-backed groups killed 10 people.
The attacks, about 10 miles apart, highlighted the dangers for the groups fighting al-Qaida, which often include former insurgents who have turned against the terrorist group in Iraq.
Both bombings were in Diyala, the province just north of Baghdad that remains one of the country’s most violent regions despite dramatic security gains in the capital and elsewhere.
In the first attack, in the city of Muqdadiyah, 10 of those killed were members of the local anti-al-Qaida group who have partnered with US and Iraqi forces to rid their area of militants, said General Mohammed al-Tamimi, the city police chief, who said the bombing killed 15 people and wounded 20.
Ibrahim Bajalan, the head of Diyala provincial council, said the bomber was a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party whose two sons joined al-Qaida and were killed by Iraqi security forces.
“She wanted to avenge the killing of her two sons,” he said.
Jassim Jerad, a former Iraqi soldier who was injured in the bombing, said he saw a woman approaching the offices, then felt the explosion.
“I fell down, but stood up quickly to save my son, who was screaming,” he said from his hospital bed, while his six-year-old son wept nearby.
Later a suicide car bombing at a checkpoint near Mansouriayat al-Jabal killed seven Iraqi soldiers and three members of a local anti-al-Qaida group. The driver detonated his explosives when the guards asked to search the car.
Violence has declined nationally in Iraq, but is still frequent in the north, where al-Qaida militants and other extremists are believed to have fled a US-led security crackdown that began in mid-February in Baghdad.
As the influx of US troops gained momentum earlier this year, American officials have courted both Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders around the country, hoping they will help lead local drives against al-Qaida and other militants. A similar effort saw some success in Iraq’s westernmost province, Anbar.
The groups now include some 60,000 Iraqis nationwide, most of them Sunni Arabs, and members have come under increasing attack from militants trying to offset recent security gains.
Since the groups began forming in Diyala in July, many of their members have faced deadly militant strikes. In Baqouba, at least 13 have died in suicide attacks, roadside bombings shootings.
With overall violence on the decline, the United States has pushed Iraq’s government to make strides in reconciling Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds, seen as a key step to keeping the peace in the country.
