By Xinhua
Baghdad : At least 14 Iraqis were killed and28 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a popular cafe near the volatile city of Baquba in central Iraq on Tuesday, a local police source said.
“A suicide attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body inside a popular cafe this evening in al-Abbarah district, just north of Baquba in the province of Diyala, killing at least 14 people and wounding 28 others,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity over the phone.
The source added that the death toll is expected to rise due to the power of the blast.
The attack came while Sunni Muslims are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Adha that begins Wednesday, an occasion that marks the end of the Muslim pilgrimage season to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, is the capital of the volatile Diyala province, which has long been a hotbed of insurgency led by al-Qaida network in Iraq and sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite communities.