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 The commander of the army's Seventh Division as well as the
commander of its 28th Brigade and several other high-ranking
officers were among those killed in the attack, the sources said.
Another 32 soldiers were wounded.
It was not immediately clear why so many senior officers were in an
area controlled largely by Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda, but
some sources suggested they had come to document a recent military
victory nearby.
Multiple sources said three suicide bombers wearing explosive belts
detonated themselves among the officers inside a deserted house in
the western town of Rutba, 360 km (225 miles) west of Baghdad.
"All that we know so far is three suicide bombers wearing explosive
vests came from nowhere and detonated themselves among the
officers," a military officer who was at the scene told Reuters by
phone.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered troops in the area to launch
an operation to pursue the militants who carried out the attack, the
sources said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suicide bombing is
the trademark of al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, which merged this year
with its Syrian counterpart to form the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant.
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Al Qaeda-linked militants have intensified attacks on the security
forces, civilians and anyone seen as supporting the Shi'ite-led
government, tipping Iraq back into its deadliest levels of violence
in five years.
In a separate incident, the commander-in-chief of the police force
in Shirqat, 300 km north of Baghdad, was killed and four of his
officers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded by his convoy,
police and medical sources said.
(Reporting by Kamal Namaa in Ramadi, Ghazwan Hassan in Tikrit;
writing by Suadad al-Salhy; editing by Alexander Dziadosz and Alison
Williams)
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