BAGHDAD — A female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq’s win in a World Cup qualifier Saturday, wounding at least 34 people near a cafe north of Baghdad, police said.
The young woman, who was covered in a traditional black Islamic robe, was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack as dozens of young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in the town of Qara Tappah.
The woman told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, said the town’s top administrator, Serwan Shukir. Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, Shukir said, but the officer’s warning had averted a higher casualty toll.
