Blasts kill at least 4 in Iraq
One bomb, carried by a woman, hits Iraqi soldiers. Others target Sunni lawmakers in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD -- A woman blew herself up near an Iraqi army position today, killing at least one soldier, and at least three people died in a pair of bombings targeting Sunni Muslim lawmakers.
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki traveled to the northern city of Mosul to oversee what he has said will be a major military offensive against Al Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials say Mosul is the last stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgent group and that many of the insurgents went there after being chased from their former strongholds in Diyala and Al Anbar provinces.
The bomb that targeted the Iraqi soldiers was a reminder of the Sunni group's ongoing activities, which are far less than in the past but still pose a major threat. The U.S. military has said that Al Qaeda in Iraq has turned more to women to stage attacks, and today's female bomber was the 14th this year.
A military statement said the woman blew herself up about 12 miles south of Baghdad in an area once known as the "triangle of death" because of the insurgent activity. In the past year, it has been largely peaceful.
The brief statement said one Iraqi soldier died and seven were wounded in the attack. The injured were taken to a U.S. military base for treatment.
In Baghdad, three people died when a bomb planted in front of a building occupied by the mainly Sunni Islamic Party went off. The blast occurred as the motorcade of Abdul Kareem Samarai, a member of parliament from the party, was leaving the parking area in front of the building.
Another bomb in the same area appeared to target a motorcade of Iyad Samarai, another lawmaker from the Islamic Party, but nobody was killed.
tina.susman@latimes.com
Special correspondents in Baghdad contributed to this report.
