Iraq security forces attacked by suicide bomber

A suicide bomber killed more than 40 people in Baghdad this morning in an attack on security personnel as they queued up for their wages. The victims were all members of a government-backed militia known as Sahwa, or Sons of Iraq, who were waiting for their pay in Radwaniya, a Sunni district in the south-west of the city. Police put the number of dead at 39, but the interior ministry said 43 had died. "There were more than 85 people lined up in three lines at the main gate of the military base when a person approached us. When one of the soldiers tried to stop him, he blew himself up," a survivor, 20-year-old Tayseer Mehsen, told Reuters at Mahmudiya hospital. "I lost consciousness and woke up to find myself in hospital." The Sahwa fighters have played a key role in the reduction of violence in Iraq since they turned against their former al-Qaida allies in 2006 by joining US and government forces. The attacked occurred at a time of continuing political deadlock in Iraq following an inconclusive election in March. Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al-Qaida have sought to exploit the political vacuum created by a failure of Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions to agree on a coalition, and have carried out a series of attacks since the vote. The US military has increasingly taken a backseat role since pulling out of Iraqi cities in June last year. US troops will end combat operations on 31 August, ahead of a full withdrawal next year.