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Suicide bomber targets school
22/01/2008 10:48 - (SA)
Baquba - A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a school in the restive city of Baquba on Tuesday, wounding 21 people as the blast ripped through a crowd of teachers and pupils, police said.
"Four female teachers and 17 pupils were wounded, including five very young boys," said police Major Ahmed al-Karkhi.
The attacker targeted Al-Mutwra school in the middle of Baquba, 60km north of Baghdad, as pupils were arriving for morning classes, Karkhi said.
The attack was the fifth by a suicide bomber in Baquba this month and follows a similar assault on a funeral ceremony for a police colonel's relative on Monday near the north-central city of Baiji which killed 17 mourners.
US military spokesperson Rear Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference on Sunday that 40 to 50 foreign fighters sneak into Iraq each month - down from more than 100 a year ago - mostly to carry out suicide bombings.
"Over 90% of suicide bombers are foreign terrorists," he said.
US military intelligence experts told reporters in Baghdad that al-Qaeda and other insurgents are on the run and are increasingly forced to resort to suicide attacks because their ability to stage major bombings has been reduced.
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