2011-03-14 15:20

BAQUBA - At least 11 Iraqi soldiers were killed and some 29 people wounded in a suicide car bombing on local government compound in a town in Iraq's eastern Diyala province on Monday, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

The attack took place in the morning when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the local government compound of the Kan'an town, 20 km east of the provincial capital of Baquba, the source said on condition of anonymity.

"Our latest report said that the deaths were all soldiers, and we have 14 others wounded by the blast, along with 15 government officials at the compound were also wounded," the source said.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene as ambulances and civilian cars evacuated the victims to the town's hospital and to the main hospital in Baquba, 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source added.

Diyala province, which stretches from eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border, has long been the stronghold of al-Qaida militant groups and hotbed of insurgency and sectarian violence since the US-led invasion broke out in 2003.