BAGHDAD – A car bomb at an Iraqi army unit in volatile Diyala province killed at least eleven soldiers, officials said Monday, as the Iraqi government continues to battle a stubborn insurgency. Suspected Sunni insurgents and Shi’ite militia have stepped up assaults in recent months on Iraqi policemen and soldiers, seeking to undermine faith in the security forces before a full U.S. military withdrawal by the end of this year. The blast took place near an army headquarters in Kanaan, 70 km (45 miles) northeast of Baghdad, killing eight soldiers and wounding 30, Diyala’s governor Abdul-Nassir al-Mahdawi said. Security forces foiled a second attack and defused a car bomb parked at the scene, Mahdawi said.
“The explosion was unusual and unprecedented, which left a two-metre-wide and three-metre-depth crater in the ground,” said the governor. “So far the exact reason for the explosion has not been officially confirmed, but according to initial investigations it was not a suicide bomber.” A spokeswoman for the governor, Samira al-Shibli, said the bomb was in a parked car. Officials said an army building had been destroyed and other buildings were damaged by the blast. Muthana al-Timimi, head of the security committee of the Diyala provincial council, gave the casualty figures as 11 dead and 13 wounded.
He said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber who blew up a booby-trapped truck near the army headquarters, which is near other govt buildings. Diyala is one of few remaining provinces where large numbers of al Qaeda and other Sunni insurgents still battle Iraqi security forces. A volatile mix of minority Kurds, majority Shi’ites and Sunnis has made it difficult to bring peace there. Overall violence has fallen sharply in Iraq since the height of sectarian carnage in 2006-07, but killings and bombings remain common, raising questions about local security forces’ ability to keep Iraqis safe after U.S. troops leave.
