17 killed in two attacks in Iraq's Diyala

BAQUBA. December 1. KAZINFORM Up to 17 people were killed and 36 others injured in two deadly attacks in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala on Thursday, a provincial police source said; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

A car bomb exploded at a crowded vegetable market in the town of Khalis near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 30 others, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Several shops, stalls and civilian cars were also damaged, the source said.

Earlier, the source put the toll at seven killed and 28 wounded.

Another attack took place in the early hours of the day, when gunmen broke into the houses of two brothers, one of them is a member of a local Awakening Council group, in the village of al- Jeel near, 20 kilometers m south of Baquba, killing eight people and wounding four others, the source added.

The Awakening Council group, or Sahwa in Arabic, consists of armed groups including some powerful anti-US Sunni insurgent groups which fought al-Qaida militant in the Sunni Arab areas after the US-led invasion of Iraq; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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