At least nine Iraqi soldiers have been killed by a suicide car bomber who rammed a security checkpoint north of the capital Baghdad, officials say.
The bombing took place in the town of Khalis in Diyala province where anti-US insurgents have recently stepped up attacks against security forces. Civilians were among about 15 people also wounded in the attack. It is the third significant bombing in a week in Diyala, which has a mixed population of Shias and Sunni Muslims. The bombing took place at approximately 1000 (0600 GMT), reports say. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed four police officers in another city in Diyala, Balad Ruz. Two days earlier, nine US soldiers were killed by a pair of suicide attackers driving rubbish lorries packed with explosives, that caused a two-storey building to collapse. It is thought to be the worst single US loss on the ground since late 2005. Elsewhere in Iraq, at least three people are reported to have been killed and 13 wounded in three separate blasts near Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad. | 
