A suicide bomber driving an oil truck blew himself up after he was stopped at a checkpoint near an Iraqi army headquarters north of Baghdad on Wednesday, wounding nine soldiers, a spokesperson said.
The attacker apparently planned to drive the truck into the compound in Muqdadiyah, but guards stopped him at the checkpoint about 100m away at about 9.15am. He detonated his explosives belt as he got out of the vehicle, causing it to explode, army Colonel Ibrahim Hussein said, adding that nine soldiers were wounded.
The blast came just over a month after a suicide bomber struck a police station in Muqdadiyah, 90km north of Baghdad, killing seven officers.
A parked car bomb also struck a police patrol in the northern city of Mosul at about 10.30am, killing one policeman and wounding two others, Brigadier Abdul Karim al-Jibouri said.
Iraqi security forces have been frequent targets of insurgent attacks as they are seen as collaborates with US-led forces.
A car bomb also struck a predominantly Shi’ite area in eastern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding six, police said.
The explosion occurred at 10am after the driver parked the car near a currency exchange office in the Amin district in New Baghdad neighbourhood, then walked away.
”A seemingly normal person parked this car and told us that he would not be long,” said the owner of the currency exchange who identified himself as Abu Talal. ”When that person disappeared for more than 20 minutes, we tried to call the police but the car exploded as we were trying to do so.”
Shop owners in Baghdad often insist that motorists get permission before parking their cars due to the frequent bombings that hit the capital, which is facing rising sectarian violence.
Police found the body of one person killed thrown into a nearby alley by the force of the blast, while six others were wounded. The blast also damaged several nearby shops.
Elsewhere, six tortured bodies were found blindfolded and with their hands and legs bound in Fallujah, 65km west of Baghdad, hospital officials said. – Sapa-AP