Iraq: bomb kills 4 in northern city

Baghdad, December 21: Police and health officials in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar say a suicide bomber killed a local council member and three of his guards.

A police officer in the city says the leader of the local council was driving in a nine-vehicle convoy when a suicide bomber walked up to the convoy and blew himself up Monday.

A doctor at a local hospital confirmed the account. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Tal Afar is about 90 miles (150 kilometers) east of the Syrian border, in Ninevah province. Insurgents frequently staged bombings there in past years.

—Agencies