Baghdad, December 01: The deadly incident took place on Thursday when an explosive-laden car parked in a street market in the town was blown up, said Ali al-Temimi, an official at the Khalis police department.
The whole town, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, was placed under a curfew immediately after the blast, Reuters reported
On Monday, 19 people were killed and 22 others were injured in a car bomb explosion outside an Iraqi prison near the capital.
Scores of Iraqi civilians, army and police personnel have been targeted in bombings across Iraq over the past few months. The attacks are widely believed to be carried out by foreign-linked elements in efforts to undermine public trust in Iraqi security forces.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed foreign countries for inciting trouble in Iraq, saying that some governments are “spending money and making efforts” to destabilize the country.
The United States and its close ally in the region, Saudi Arabia, are the two countries that have most often been cited by Iraqi political and community leaders as the states sponsoring the terror campaign in Iraq.
Meanwhile, thousands of Iraqis, including clerics, lawmakers and city councilors, held demonstrations in Baghdad and the southern cities of Najaf and Basra on Wednesday to condemn an unannounced visit to the oil-rich country by US Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday and has reportedly met with Maliki and several other senior Iraqi officials.
Iraqi demonstrators on Wednesday chanted “Biden, get out of Iraq” and “No to America,” saying the trip was made in an effort by the United States to convince Iraqi leaders to extend the stay of US military forces in the country.
American troops are scheduled to leave the Arab state by the end of 2011.
—–Agencies