11 die in Iraq suicide bombing

Bomber targeted Iraqi Army Day celebration; two soldiers try throwing themselves atop the bomber, but fail.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iraqi army day (photo credit: )
Iraqi army day
(photo credit: )
Two Iraqi army soldiers threw themselves atop a suicide bomber, but the attacker was able to detonate an explosives vest, killing the two soldiers and another nine people attending a gathering commemorating Iraq's Army Day, the US military and police said. Among the dead were four police officers, three Iraqi soldiers and four civilians, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media. He said at least 17 other people were wounded in the attack, which took place around 12:30 p.m. local time. "The selfless sacrifice of the two Iraqi jundis (soldiers) should not be forgotten. These two Iraqi martyrs gave their lives so that others might live," the US military said in a statement. In separate violence, a parked car bomb exploded at the entrance of a popular restaurant in northeastern Baghdad, killing one policeman and two civilians, and wounding 12 others, a police official said on condition of anonymity. In eastern Baghdad a parked car bomb exploded and four mortars landed in the area of a bus terminal. Police said one civilian was killed and three others wounded. Near Muqdadiyah, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, a joint Iraqi-US patrol on Sunday discovered the heads of five decapitated people, Iraqi military officials said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. No further details were immediately available. Near the city of Khalis in volatile Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, suspected al-Qaida in Iraq fighters attacked the house of a local sheik and kidnapped him and 13 members of his family, an official from a joint coordinating office said. Earlier Sunday in Baghdad, a Shiite tribal sheik who was part of an effort to form an armed group to combat militias in his Baghdad neighborhood was shot and killed, police said. Sheik Ismaiel Abbas, believed to be 45, was outside his house in Shaab when he was shot by gunmen driving by in two cars, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Shaab is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Baghdad and Shiite militias are active in the area.