28 killed in Iraq suicide truck bomb blast

At least 28 people were killed when a suicide bomber drove his truck into a densely populated residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar today.

The attack occurred in a crowded Shia neighbourhood of the mixed city, about 260 miles north-west of Baghdad.

At least 40 others were wounded in the attack, said Brigadier General Rahim al-Jibouri, commander of Tal Afar police. The death toll was expected to rise, he said.

The attacker drove a dump truck filled with explosives and covered with a thin layer of construction materials, al-Jibouri said.

Within an hour of the attack, authorities imposed a complete curfew on the city.

Tal Afar - a city which the US military initially cited as success story after major operations were said to have cleared the city of insurgents - has been the frequent site of Sunni attacks in the past year.

Many of them stemmed from allegations by a 50-year-old Sunni Arab woman, who came forward last February and said Iraqi soldiers raped her when they raided her house searching for weapons. Sunni insurgents have kidnapped and killed dozens of Iraqi security officials in response.

The city also recorded one of the deadliest days since the start of the Iraq war, when at least 152 people died in truck bombings on March 27.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed nine civilians and wounded eight during the morning rush hour, police said.

The bomb had been planted at the Zaafaraniyah intersection in the Jisr Diyala area, a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood, an officer said. The route is frequently used by Iraqi police and army patrols.

The explosion occurred at about 7.30am local time, and all the victims were pedestrians, the officer said.