A suicide attack in Iraq against a government-backed Sunni militia has 43 killed people and wounded 40, officials in Baghdad say.
The suicide bomber attacked the "Sahwa" militia fighters in the Sunni district of Radwaniya on July 18 as they lined up to be paid on Baghdad's southwestern outskirts. Officials from the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry have confirmed the casualty toll.
The Sahwa fighters were once allied with Al Qaeda but turned on the terrorist network in 2006 and 2007, helping U.S. forces turn the tide in the war.
Sunni Islamist insurgents still linked to Al Qaeda have sought to exploit a political vacuum created in Iraq by the failure of Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions to agree on a coalition government since elections in March.
compiled from agency reports
The suicide bomber attacked the "Sahwa" militia fighters in the Sunni district of Radwaniya on July 18 as they lined up to be paid on Baghdad's southwestern outskirts. Officials from the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry have confirmed the casualty toll.
The Sahwa fighters were once allied with Al Qaeda but turned on the terrorist network in 2006 and 2007, helping U.S. forces turn the tide in the war.
Sunni Islamist insurgents still linked to Al Qaeda have sought to exploit a political vacuum created in Iraq by the failure of Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions to agree on a coalition government since elections in March.
compiled from agency reports