A female suicide bomber detonated an explosives vest Wednesday in a city northeast of Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 21, Iraqi officials said. The attack occurred around 11:30 a.m. in front of a courthouse in downtown Baqouba, the provincial capital of Diyala, a police official said, according to the AP.
It was apparently intended to be a double suicide bombing, but a man accompanying the woman failed to detonate his explosives vest and was arrested at the scene, provincial council chief Ibrahim Bajilan said.
Police officials in the main provincial security headquarters in Baqouba said nine people were killed and 21 injured. Bajilan expressed frustration with the continued attacks. "It seems that Baqouba is infiltrated and the terrorists have a foothold in it," Bajilan told The Associated Press. "They have people who offer them safe shelter and carry out attacks." According to him, more than 50 women were deployed in the area to guard against such attacks but more were needed to control the roads leading to the city.
Dr. Ahmed Fuad, the director of Baqouba's main morgue, said he received the bodies of the nine people killed in the blast. He said they included three civilians, five Iraqi army soldiers and one policeman.
