Suicide bomber attacks Iraqi school, injures 21: police
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a school in the restive city of Baquba on Tuesday, wounding 21 people as the blast ripped through a crowd of teachers and pupils, police said.
"Four female teachers and 17 pupils were wounded, including five very young boys," said police Major Ahmed al-Karkhi.
The attacker targeted Al-Mutwra school in the middle of Baquba, 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Baghdad, as pupils were arriving for morning classes, Karkhi said.
The attack was the fifth by a suicide bomber in Baquba this month and follows a similar assault on a funeral ceremony for a police colonel's relative on Monday near the north-central city of Baiji which killed 17 mourners.
US military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference on Sunday that 40 to 50 foreign fighters sneak into Iraq each month -- down from more than 100 a year ago -- mostly to carry out suicide bombings.
"Over 90 percent of suicide bombers are foreign terrorists," he said.
US military intelligence experts told reporters in Baghdad that Al-Qaeda and other insurgents are on the run and are increasingly forced to resort to suicide attacks because their ability to stage major bombings has been reduced.
