A woman suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi army recruitment centre today, killing at least seven people and wounding 37.
The attacker, wearing men's clothing as a disguise, detonated her hidden explosives while standing in line with job applicants at the first of three checkpoints outside the centre.
The blast occurred in Tal Afar, 93 miles east of the Syrian border, and it highlighted the difficulty of maintaining security in the towns in the large north-western region stretching to the border, where insurgents are most active.
US and Iraqi troops swept through Tal Afar, in an offensive, with Iraqi authorities claiming nearly 200 suspected militants were killed and 315 captured.
But when they completed the sweep, they discovered many of the insurgents had slipped out, some of them through a network of underground tunnels.
Since then, the bulk of forces that participated in the offensive have withdrawn, though US troops maintain a base and outposts in Tal Afar, which is 260 miles north-west of Baghdad.
AP