Suicide bomber kills Mosul police chief

From Yahoo/Reuters.

A suicide bomber in police uniform killed the police chief of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday as he toured the scene of a blast a day earlier in which at least 20 people died, police said. Rescuers were still digging through the rubble of Wednesday's explosion in search of survivors when the attacker blew up next to Mosul police Brigadier-General Salih Mohammed Hasan and his bodyguards, the army said.

Mosul is unique in that it lies along several historic trade routes, has a ethinically diverse population, and straddles the Tigris River.

U.S. commanders have identified Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, as al Qaeda's last major urban stronghold in Iraq after its fighters were driven out of western Anbar province and from around Baghdad during security crackdowns last year.

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