Female suicide bomber kills 16 at police station

A WOMAN with explosives hidden beneath her black abaya detonated them yesterday in a crowd of about 200 police recruits north-east of Baghdad, killing at least 16 people, police said.

The woman walked into the crowd at the main gate of the Muqdadiyah police station and blew herself up, according to a police officer. At least 16 people were killed and 33 wounded in the mostly Sunni Muslim city about 96km north-east of Baghdad, said Dr Abdul Salam al-Jibour at Muqdadiyah General Hospital.

Meanwhile, US and Iraqi army forces were engaged in fierce fighting with gunmen in two Sunni-dominated neighbourhoods of the capital, Fadhil and Sheik Omar, police and witnesses said.