Baghdad: A suicide bomber drove a truck rigged with explosives into a checkpoint manned by members of a US backed security volunteer group in a town north of Baghdad today, killing at least 12 people, police and a member of the volunteer group said.
Another three people were missing, believed blown up in the explosion in the town of Mishada, 30 kilometers north of the capital, on part of the main highway linking Baghdad to northern Iraq, according a police officer and Adil al-Mishhadani, a member of the volunteer group.
The groups - mainly Sunni tribal fighters who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year - have been credited with helping reduce overall violence in the country by 60 percent since June.
