OIF Summary, April 20, 2009: 3 Killed, 19 Wounded in Baquba Suicide Vest Attack

Dispatches from the Front:

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq, April 20, 2009 -- A suicide vest bomber killed three civilians and wounded 19 others, during an attack near the mayor’s office in the Diyala provincial capital, Baquba at approximately 10 a.m. April 20.

Among the 19 injured were eight U.S. soldiers, two members of the local embedded provincial reconstruction team and three Iraqi police.The bomber, reportedly dressed in an Iraqi police uniform, detonated the vest as members were on their way to visit the municipal leader.

The mayor was not wounded in the attack, and there are no reports of U.S. personnel deaths.

Immediately following the explosion, shots were fired at the U.S. team. Soldiers identified a single gunman and returned fire. There are no reports of the gunman being wounded or captured.

An investigation is ongoing, and more information will be provided as it becomes available.

(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)

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