World

Suicide bomber dressed as woman kills at least 14 in Iraq camp for displaced

From our online archive

MOSUL: An Iraqi provincial official says a suicide bomber, disguised in a woman's all-covering robe, struck inside a camp for displaced people in the western province of Anbar, killing at least 14.

Councilman Taha Abdul-Ghani says the attack took place at dusk on Sunday as authorities were accommodating families that had fled from the Islamic State-held town of Qaim.

Abdul-Ghani says that a police colonel was among the dead. The officer became suspicious about the person in the long robe and walked up to the attacker, embracing him — presumably to reduce the number of casualties — as he detonated his explosives.

The explosion also wounded at least 20 people.

Iraqi forces have pushed IS out of most of Anbar, and are now in the final stages of a major offensive in the northern city of Mosul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on IS, which has carried out similar attacks in the past.

SCROLL FOR NEXT