BAGHDAD – Iraqi police say a suicide bomber has killed five members of a government-backed Sunni militia that has helped U.S. forces fight al-Qaida.
Two policemen say the bomber drove an explosives-packed car into a security checkpoint just outside the capital Baghdad in the western suburb of Abu Ghraib.
The checkpoint was guarded by militiamen belonging to Sahwa, or Awakening Councils. The group once fought Americans but later joined U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in one of the turning points of the war.
Sunni insurgents have since frequently targeted the group.
A medic at Abu Ghraib General Hospital says eight other people were wounded in Tuesday’s bombing.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information.
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