The young woman, who was covered in a traditional black Islamic robe, was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack on Saturday as dozens of cheering young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in the town of Qara Tappah.

The woman told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, according to the town's top administrator, Serwan Shukir.


Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, Shukir said, but the officer's warning had averted a higher casualty toll by preventing the woman from reaching the bulk of the fans.

Regarding the suicide attacks by the vehicles, an Iraqi group said to the correspondants that after the American check points, soon after their cars are stopped and controlled, they see that the cars which are controlled by the American soldiers explode.


Agencies