Text Only
Search

Suicide Bomber Kills 25 at Feast West of Baghdad

24 August 2008

Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber has struck a dinner feast west of Baghdad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 32 others.

Officials say the attacker blew himself up at the home of a local sheikh who was celebrating his son's release from U.S. detention. The guests at the dinner included members of a Sunni Awakening council -- a U.S.-allied militia group that has turned against al-Qaida.

In other violence Sunday, a double bomb attack in Baghdad against Iraqi security forces killed four people. In the eastern province of Diyala, a roadside bomb killed four Iraqi soldiers in the town of Balad Ruz, while gunmen also killed two policemen in Baquba, the provincial capital.

Also, the U.S. military says Iraqi police detained a 13-year-old girl strapped with explosives who surrendered in Diyala rather than blow herself up.  It says the girl also led police to the location of a second suicide vest.

The U.S. military initially said a woman bomber had turned herself in.

The military also says its troops captured two senior al-Qaida militants in Baghdad this month, including a man suspected of planning the 2006 kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll.

The U.S. military says the alleged kidnapping mastermind, Salim Abdullah Ashur al-Shujayri (also known as Abu Othman), was captured on August 11. It says Shujayri's associates have been involved in other kidnappings of foreigners in Iraq.

Carroll was abducted in Iraq in January 2006 while reporting for the Christian Science Monitor. She was released three months later.

A military spokesman says the capture of Shujayri and the other militant (Ali Rash Nasir Jiyad al-Shammari, also known as Abu Tiba) eliminates two of the few remaining experienced leaders of al-Qaida's network in Iraq.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

emailme.gif E-mail This Article
printerfriendly.gif Print Version

  Related Stories
Suicide Bomber Kills 5 in Northern Iraq
 
  Top Story
US Army Charges Alleged Fort Hood Shooter with Premeditated Murder

  More Stories
Obama Promises Strategy, Clear Mission, Public Support For Troops  Audio Clip Available
Kremlin Calls for Sweeping Modernization of Russia  Audio Clip Available
Union Says Zimbabwe Farm Workers Worst Abused Sector in Past 10 Years  Video clip available
Obama Begins First Presidential Trip to Asia  Audio Clip Available
Obama to Hold Jobs Summit in December   Audio Clip Available  Video clip available
Reports: US Ambassador to Kabul Expresses Caution About More Troops  Audio Clip Available
APEC Ministers say Economic Recovery Fragile  Audio Clip Available
Clinton Vows Support for Philippine Typhoon  Recovery, Anti-Terrorism Fight  Audio Clip Available
US Leaders May Interact With Burmese at Singapore Summit  Audio Clip Available
N. Korea Says South Will Pay 'Expensive Price' for Naval Clash
China Rejects Human Rights Watch Report on Black Jails
Thasksin Delivers Speech in Phnom Penh
Sri Lanka Military Chief Resigns  Audio Clip Available
As Alleged Fort Hood Shooter Recovers, New Questions Arise  Video clip available
Pakistan Seeks Role in US-Afghan Policy
Obama's Middle East Strategy Stalls
Zimbabwe Land Seizures Reportedly Intensify  Audio Clip Available
First Recorded Dengue Fever Epidemic Hits Cape Verde  Audio Clip Available
Paisley, Swift Winners at CMA Awards  Audio Clip Available