Baghdad: A bomb exploded inside the building of a political party in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Thursday, killing four people and wounding 18, police said.
The blast took place in a building used by the local Reform and Development Movement in Iraq`s violent Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, where al Qaeda and other insurgent groups still roam despite repeated efforts to stamp them out.
Many of the victims worked for the party, police said, but some were bystanders outside of the building.
US combat forces pulled out of Iraqi cities at the end of last month, leading some Iraqis to doubt whether their own forces are capable of handling security by themselves.
Ethnically mixed Diyala province, home to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen professing Sunni and Shi`ite Muslim faiths, is one of the last focal points of a still active Sunni Arab insurgency.
Bureau Report
