Iraq election candidate killed in suicide bomb attack

A suicide attack has killed an election candidate and four of his relatives in a northern province.

The bomber attacked a guesthouse owned by Younis al-Rammah, who was a candidate in provincial elections beginning today, late on Tuesday in Nineveh. Mr Rammah and four relatives were killed and six others wounded.

Candidates are frequent targets for insurgents who aim to disrupt the political process.

Two suicide bombers also targeted a Shia mosque in Baghdad on Tuesday, one blowing himself up at a nearby checkpoint while the other slipped inside during prayers. The blasts killed 34 people, Iraqi officials said. The co-ordinated bombings were the latest in a string of attacks to hit Iraq, reviving fears the country is heading back toward the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed it to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

Police said the first bomber detonated his explosives at a security checkpoint near the mosque in Baghdad’s northern Qahira neighbourhood in an apparent attempt to distract the authorities. The area is a middle-class, Shia-majority community. Amid the commotion, a second bomber slipped into the mosque, where he blew himself up while worshippers were at midday prayers.