Baaquba blast casualties up to 19

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Casualties from Monday’s earlier suicide blast carried out by a woman wearing an explosive belt near a sahwa checkpoint in central Baaquba rose to four deaths and 15 others wounded, a source from Diala police said. “The recent count of casualties from a suicide attack by a woman who detonated her explosive belt near a sahwa (awakening) checkpoint on Monday reached four deaths and 15 others, including eight sahwa tribal fighters, injured,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The explosion also caused damage to six nearby stores,” the source added. Earlier in the day the same source said the attack, which ripped through the al-Atibaa street, central Baaquba, left four sahwa fighters killed and an unidentified number others wounded in an initial count of casualties. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. The sahwa forces, armed by U.S. forces, were formed by tribes in several cities and provinces of Iraq, namely Anbar, Diala, Salah al-Din and Mosul as well as some areas in the Iraqi capital with the aim of fighting armed organizations in their areas. AmR (P) 1