The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

A female suicide bomber blew herself up near U.S.-allied Sunni Arab fighters walking in a crowded area of Baqouba, killing at least eight of the guards and wounding 24 other people Thursday evening, police said.

The attack comes as the U.S.-backed Iraqi military is promising to launch a major offensive in Diyala province aimed at taming the last major insurgent belt north of Baghdad. Baqouba is the province's capital. The woman, who was shrouded in a traditional black Islamic robe, detonated her explosives belt at about 8:30 p.m. as she approached a group of Awakening Council guards in the central New Baqouba area, a police officer said.

The officer, who read the police bombing report but spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, and witnesses said the local Awakening Council chief, Naaim al-Duliami, was killed along with seven of his bodyguards.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq said troops were investigating the bombing and it could not immediately confirm that the attacker was a woman.

The Sunni turn against al-Qaida has been credited by the U.S. military as a key factor in driving down Iraq's violence to its lowest point in more than four years. Also cited are the U.S. troop buildup and a cease-fire declared by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for his Shiite militia.