A suicide bombing struck a security checkpoint near a marketplace in a town in the volatile Diyala province on Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding 18 others, a provincial police source said.
The attack took place around midday in the town of Maqdadiyah, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up at a checkpoint near a crowded marketplace, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The checkpoint was manned jointly by policemen and fighters from the local Awakening Council group, who are tasked with fighting al-Qaida in Iraq network, the source said.
The dead included two policemen, several Awakening Council fighters and civilians, he said.
Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border in the east, is a hot bed for sectarian violence and a major stronghold for al-Qaida network.
Source:Xinhua
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