A suicide bomber smashed a police base in northern Iraq and another blew up a patrol on Thursday, killing 20 people as a pro-government militia killed 15 suspected al Qaeda fighters, officials said. The surge in violence came as the US military announced plans to withdraw 4,000 more troops after saying the level of violence was at a four-year low.
A man in an explosives-packed jacket blew himself up at police headquarters in Sinjar, a town on the road to Syria from the main northern city of Mosul. A hospital source said 17 people were killed and 30 wounded. Interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Kareem Khalaf said the local police chief was suspended pending investigations.
The authorities in Nineveh province slapped a ban on cars without passengers in a move aimed at minimising the risk of suicide car bomb attacks which are usually launched by lone drivers.