Female suicide bomber kills tribal police chief in Iraq (1st Lead)

Mar 10, 2008, 9:21 GMT

Baghdad - A female suicide bomber blew herself up Monday near the home of a chief of tribal police in the restive Diyala province in Iraq, killing four people, including the tribal chief, and injuring two, according to a spokesman for a local tribal squad.

'A female bomber wearing an explosive vest targeted the house of Sheykh Thair Taban al-Kharkhi, the head of the tribal police unit in the town of Canan,' the spokesman Shukr al-Shumari told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

Al-Kharkhi's son and daughter and his guard were also killed in the attack, al-Shumari said. The house was badly damaged.

Canan is in Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of the capital Baghdad.

Tribal police units are formed and funded by the US military mainly in Sunni Arab areas to fight loyalists of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The units, also known as Awakening Councils, are usually led by local tribal chiefs or dignitaries. A decrease in violence, especially in Baghdad and surrounding areas, is believed to have been partly due to the councils' contribution to improving security.

Council members have become targets of attacks since December.