Global General

Car bombing kills 7, wounds 26 in Iraq

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-20 02:48

BAQUBA, Iraq - A suicide bomber on Monday exploded his booby-trapped car close to a casino in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, killing seven people and wounding 26 others, a local police source said.

The car was detonated at a parking lot close to the casino in Diyala's capital city of Baquba, some 60 km northeast of Baghdad, leaving at least seven dead and 26 others wounded, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

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Earlier, the source put the death toll at four while 21 others wounded.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Iraqi security forces cordoned off the scene as ambulances and civilian cars evacuated the victims to nearby hospitals.

Earlier on Monday, another suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a convoy of a British company in the country's northern city of Mosul, killing four foreigners, including one British national.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite repeated US and Iraqi military operations against them.