BAQUBA, Dec 7: The mayor of the Iraqi city of Baquba was among 34 people wounded in a roadside bombing in the restive provincial capital northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, medical and security sources said.

General Raghem al-Omairi, head of military operations in the city, was injured along with Mayor Abdullah al-Khayali by the bomb, Baquba General Hospital medic Ahmed Alwan said.

Two journalists from a local television channel, eight policemen, six anti-Qaeda militiamen and 16 civilians were also among the wounded, a doctor said.

The blast occurred when Khayali and Omairi under a heavy escort were visiting the town’s old market, sources said.

“I was sitting in my friend’s vegetable shop when 10 to 15 people, most of them policemen, went by on the way to the market,” an eyewitness said.—AFP