Suicide bombing at Iraq base kills seven: Officials

BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse

A coordinated attack on an army base north of Baghdad killed at least seven soldiers and wounded 22 others on Nov. 26, security and medical officials said.

The 8:30 p.m. attack hit the base in the town of Tarmiyah, according to a police colonel and a medical official, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

A police officer in the town said the attack began with mortar fire raining down on the base, spurring soldiers to leave the main gate to investigate.

At that point the suicide bomber blew himself up, and the explosion was followed by a firefight between militants and soldiers, the officer said.

Iraqi troops based in Tarmiyah have been targeted by militants on multiple occasions.

On Nov. 7, two successive car bombs set off by suicide attackers at another nearby military installation killed 16 people and wounded dozens more.

The attack was the latest in a protracted nationwide surge in violence that has left nearly 6,000 people dead so far this year, fuelling fears Iraq is sliding back into the sectarian carnage that plagued it in 2006 and 2007.