Suicide bomber kills 16 in west Iraq base

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed at least 16 people and wounded 50 others yesterday at a military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province, the army and police said.

An eyewitness said the bomber was wearing a military uniform when he detonated himself among soldiers on parade at the base, while army and police sources said the explosion took place at the base’s cafeteria.
All the casualties were soldiers, the army and police said.
Anbar had once been overrun with al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist insurgents, but became one of Iraq’s quietest provinces after Sunni tribal sheikhs turned on militants in their midst in late 2006.
The sheikhs formed a political party which last week confirmed its domination of Anbar’s bitterly contested local council after January polls, in which the party did well.
The blast is the new council’s first serious attack since it came to office.
The sheiks’ decision to turn on al Qaeda was copied elsewhere in Iraq, and US-backed Sunni militias were formed to battle insurgents. Shi’ite-led government forces clashed with a Sunni militia in Baghdad late last month after they arrested a militia leader, raising tensions.
– Nampa-Reuters