The explosion took place in Buhriz, 60 km (35 miles)
northeast of Baghdad, close to a cafe popular with members of
the government-backed Sunni Muslim Sahwa militia.
The force of the explosion pushed Ahmed Saied off his chair at a
nearby store, wounding him in the leg.
"I opened my eyes minutes later and dust covered the place. Many
cars were burning and shrapnel was everywhere," he told Reuters
by telephone. "While police were evacuating me, I saw many
killed and wounded people at the scene."
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing in Diyala
province, but Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaeda have
frequently attacked Sahwa members this year.
The Sahwa, backed by U.S. troops, helped defeat al Qaeda at the
height of Iraq's sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007.
Al Qaeda-linked insurgents have regained ground since U.S.
forces left in 2011 and a civil war erupted in neighboring
Syria, where Sunni militants have done much of the fighting.
The Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad blames al Qaeda for a
surge in violence this year, which the United Nations says has
killed more than 8,000 people.
Bomb attacks have mostly targeted Shi'ite civilians, but Sunnis
seen as supportive of the government are also at risk.
Earlier this month a suicide bomber in another area of Diyala
province, blew himself up at the funeral procession of a
prominent tribal sheikh linked to the Sahwa, killing 10 people.
(Reporting by a Reuters reporter in Baquba,
writing by Sylvia Westall; editing by Alistair Lyon)
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