Iraqi police say at least 29 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in three suicide bomb attacks in the northern city of Baquba Wednesday.
Two car bombers struck in quick succession near police stations, while the third attacker approached a hospital on foot before detonating explosives, Voice of America reports.
"The suicide bomber tried to blow himself up against the police chief when he came to see the wounded in the hospital," the official at Baquba operations command said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police chief Major General Abdul Hussein al-Shimmari escaped unharmed but a number of his personal security team were wounded, AFP reports.
According to Reuters, police said the first two attackers drove explosives-packed cars at police stations in the center and west of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
The third assailant, wearing a police uniform and on foot, blew himself up at the gate of the city's main hospital as the casualties from the earlier blasts were ferried there.
The bomber had tried to target the provincial police chief, who had been visiting the hospital, but security guards stopped him. Many people were killed or wounded. More chaos erupted as the police chief's bodyguards shot randomly in the air.
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