Bombing targets anti-Qaeda sheiks, at least 3 people killed

Above: Ramadi sheiks and policemen celebrate following the end of an anti-Qaeda conference in Ramadi on July 7. The conference was part of the movement known as 'The Awakening'.

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint near a planned meeting site of tribal leaders Sunday in a village north of the capital, killing at least three people and injuring 13, the U.S. military said.

Local police put the death toll higher, saying at least five people were killed, mostly young men who had volunteered to defend the area as part of the Taji Tribes Awakening Council, a partnership formed in recent months between tribal leaders and U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

About 11 a.m., two men detonated a truck loaded with explosives at the checkpoint in Jurf al Milih, about 10 miles north of Baghdad, according to a military statement. It said the men were attempting to kill a tribal sheik. Witnesses said the truck was loaded with half a ton of explosives.

Kareem Zobaiee, 28, who lives nearby, said he later saw the bodies of the victims at the checkpoint, many of them dismembered by the explosion.

The council, led by Sheik Nair Tamim, meets every few days in members' homes, setting up nearby checkpoints staffed by volunteers, a council member said.

Read the rest at the LA Times

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