Bomber strikes at dinner feast
2008-08-25 08:30
Baghdad - A suicide bomber detonated an
explosive vest at a dinner feast in western Baghdad's Abu Ghraib
district on Sunday, killing 25 people, police said.
The attack, the biggest in weeks, took place at the home of
a local sheikh who was holding the feast to celebrate the
release of his son from US detention, police said.
They said women and children were among the dead, as were
some men believed to be members of US-backed neighbourhood
patrols.
Police colonel Dawood Suleiman in the nearby city of
Fallujah gave the initial death toll as 21. A police source in
Baghdad who declined to give his name later said 25 had died and
32 were injured.
Abu Ghraib is a largely Sunni Arab district located between
central Baghdad and Fallujah on the main highway heading west
from the capital.
US and Iraqi authorities say suicide bombings are the
signature tactic of al-Qaeda Sunni Arab militants, who
frequently target other Sunnis since Sunni tribes turned against
them over the past two years.
Iraq has become far less dangerous over the past year, but
militants still retain the capability to conduct large-scaled
bombings.