Iraq bombs kill 26

A suicide bomber today killed at least 20 people and injured 40 near a judge’s house in northern Iraq, while bombs in Baghdad killed six people, authorities said.

The attacks came one day after car bombs in two Shiite villages, near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killed 16 civilians and injured more than two dozen.

The suicide attack in the northern town of Tal Afar happened at around 6.30am, a police officer and an official in the provincial command centre said.

In Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a market at around 7.30am in the Shiite district of Sadr City, and another bomb exploded one minute later about 100 metres away, killing six and injuring 25, a police official and a medic said.

Hassan Abdullah, a 32-year-old vegetable salesman, said he heard the first blast and went to see what was happening when a second bomb hidden in rubbish exploded.

He said he fell to the ground and was taken to a hospital with hand and leg injuries.

Iraq is more secure now than in the past years of war, but lethal attacks persist and political reconciliation among the country’s diverse factions has yet to occur.

US combat forces pulled back from cities to bases outside urban centres at the end of June, signalling confidence in the ability of Iraqi forces to keep order.