By Xinhua,
Ramadi (Iraq): At least 15 people were killed and 17 injured Thursday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of tribal leaders and local officials in west of Baghdad, a police source said.
The incident occurred in a Garmah municipal council building in Anbar province where Sunni Arab tribal leaders and officials were holding a meeting, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Three policemen and 12 people were killed in the blast and many of the injured were in critical condition, the source said.
Kamal Abdul-Salam, head of the town council, and Mizhir Shawah, chieftain of Jumailah tribe, one of Anbar’s large tribes, were among the killed, he said.
US and Iraqi troops immediately cordoned off the area and victims and injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, the source added.
The attack came days ahead of the handover of the province’s security to Iraqi forces.
Anbar is the country’s largest province, expanding from Baghdad all the way west to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.