Suicide bomber kills 15 in Baghdad Sunni bastion

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BAGHDAD (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up near a mosque in a Sunni Arab bastion of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 30, security officials told AFP.

The bomber detonated his explosives vest at a checkpoint near the revered Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque in northern Baghdad's Adhamiyah district, the officials and an AFP correspondent at the site said.

A security official with the interior ministry said the bomber was riding a bicycle when he detonated his vest, while witnesses told the AFP correspondent that he was dressed as a woman.

The checkpoint was manned by local Sunni Arabs who were members of a group fighting Al-Qaeda militants, the correspondent said.

Those killed included Faruq al-Obeidi, a local leader of the...