35 die, dozens injured in Iraq wedding attack

updated 4:49 p.m. ET May 1, 2008

BAGHDAD - Two suicide bombers struck a wedding convoy driving Thursday through a crowded market district northeast of Baghdad as bystanders cheered it on, killing at least 35 people and wounding 65, officials said.

In the capital, a car bomb exploded as a U.S. patrol passed by in a crowded area earlier Thursday, killing one U.S. soldier and at least nine Iraqis. The attack wounded 26 Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers.

The attacks come amid heightened fears that al-Qaida in Iraq is regrouping despite recent security gains by U.S.-led forces who also face intensified attacks by Shiite extremists, with clashes concentrated mainly in Baghdad's militia stronghold of Sadr City.

The suicide bombers struck as people were dancing and clapping while sitting on car roofs and members of the wedding party were playing music in Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite town 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.

The first attacker was a woman, according to Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Rubaie, the head of the Diyala provincial operations center that oversees Balad Ruz.

A man blew himself up minutes later as police and ambulances arrived at the scene, he added.

The explosions tore through the stalls and stores that lined the area, and al-Rubaie said at least 35 people were killed and 65 wounded.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq only said there were multiple explosions in Balad Ruz and gave a lower casualty figure of 26 dead and 52 wounded.

Diyala has been a flashpoint in the battle against al-Qaida in Iraq, which the U.S. military says has been increasingly using women as suicide bombers. Explosive belts are easier to conceal under women's clothing and they are often not treated with the same suspicion as men.

The attacks were the latest in a series of suicide bombings in Diyala, including two female suicide bombings last week that killed a dozen people.

Al-Qaida trying to regroup
The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, said last week that al-Qaida in Iraq was trying to regroup after suffering a devastating blow last year when thousands of Sunni tribesmen turned against the terrorist group that is blamed for most car bombings and suicide attacks.

The terror network announced on April 19 that it was launching a one-month offensive against U.S. troops and U.S.-allied Sunnis.

The parked car bomb targeting a U.S. combat patrol in Baghdad also exploded in a crowded market district, an insurgent tactic aimed at maximizing civilian casualties.

Several cars and a U.S. Humvee were badly damaged in the blast that shattered windows of surrounding buildings and left a one-meter (yard) crater in the asphalt.

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