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Iraq: At least 22 wounded, 60 injured in election-related suicide bombing

On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a campaign tent near Baghdad. At least 22 people were killed, and dozens injured. The tent belonged to Muthanna al-Jorani, a Sunni politician, who was not injured.

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Haider Ala/Reuters
People walk near an electoral campaign sign for the upcoming provincial elections in the "Valley of Peace" cemetery in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, April 1. The sign reads "My first province, A coalition of citizens". On Saturday, a suicide bomber attacked a campaign tent, killing at least 22 people.
  • By Reuters

| Baquba

At least 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy election campaign tent in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Saturday, police and medics said.

Another 60 people were wounded in the attack, which began with a hand grenade being thrown into the tent in Baquba, 40 miles northeast of the capital Baghdad.

Local elections are due to be held across Iraq later in April, but have already been delayed in two Sunni Muslim-majority provinces due to security concerns.

Candidates in Iraq often put up tents during campaigning as a venue to meet potential voters and explain their policies.

Muthanna al-Jorani, the Sunni candidate whose tent was targeted on Saturday, was not hurt in the attack.

At least 10 candidates have been killed in recent weeks, most of them from the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite politician.

A decade after U.S. and Western troops swept into Iraq to remove President Saddam Hussein, Iraq is still struggling with violence, sectarian tensions and political instability among its main Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish components.

Additional reporting by Raheem Salman; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Alistair Lyon

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