Suicide bomber kills 18 near Kurdish party HQ in Iraq

At least 18 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the town of Jalawla, Diyala Province, eastern Iraq, local officials and medics said. More than 60 people, mostly Kurdish security officers who were guarding the area, were wounded in the attack. "A suicide bomber parked a car packed with explosives near the PUK headquarters and when it went off, he managed to sneak into the building and detonated his vest," Reuters reported Khorsheed Ahmed, the chairman of Jalawla city council, as saying.