7 Apr 2013

Suicide bomber in election tent

5:57 am on 7 April 2013

At least 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in an election campaign tent in the Iraqi city of Baquba. The candidate whose tent was targeted was not hurt.

Another 60 people were wounded in the bombing, which happened on Saturday in Baquba, a city 65km northeast of the capital Baghdad. Baquba is the capital of Diyala province.

Local elections are due to be held across Iraq later this month, but have already been delayed in two provinces due to security concerns.

At least 10 candidates have been killed in recent weeks, most of them from a coalition backed by Sunnis.

The provincial elections on 20 April will be the first in Iraq since 2010.