At least 15 people were killed and 35 wounded when a female suicide bomber blew herself up among policemen having lunch north of Baghdad today.
The attack took place in Baquba, capital of multi-ethnic Diyala province, where Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants have sought to stoke tensions despite a succession of military offensives that have put the group on the back foot.
Police and hospital sources said at least 15 people were killed in the attack, just outside a court house in Baquba, 65 kilometres north of Baghdad.
Police said the woman walked over to a group of policemen as they ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant then detonated explosives under her clothing. Several cars were set ablaze. She apparently had hidden an explosives belt under a traditional black Islamic robe usually worn by Iraqi women.
A number of female suicide bombers have carried out attacks in the past six months, mainly in Diyala.
Security officials have blamed those bombings on al-Qaeda, which they say has sought to recruit women because they can sometimes escape tight security checks on men.
Violence across Iraq has dropped to a four-year low, but today's bombing is the second big attack in the past week.
US forces have blamed a rogue Shia militia group for a truck bomb that killed 63 people in Baghdad last Tuesday in the deadliest attack in the capital for over three months.
Elsewhere in northern Iraq, Iraqi police said they have arrested six men suspected in the killing of the head of Saddam Hussein's tribe earlier this month, including his Egyptian driver and three clansmen.
Sheikh Ali al-Nida, the head of Iraq's Albu Nasir tribe, and one of his guards were killed on June 10th when a bomb planted on their car exploded in Tikrit.
Agencies