Baghdad, June 24 (IANS): At least 14 civilians were killed and 21 others injured in a car bomb attack in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, an official said on Wednesday.
A booby-trapped car was detonated on Tuesday outside the house of the head of the Al Nida Sunni tribe at a village near the town of Mandli, 150 km east of Baghdad, Xinhua reported.
The blast targeted the tribal leader's house where several tribal Sunni leaders were having a meeting, said Azad Al Mandlawi, the head of Mandli's town hall.
Violence and sectarian tensions have been running high between Sunni and Shiite communities in the province of Diyala, as Sunnis and Shiites carry out reprisal killings.
Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edge of Baghdad to the Iranian border in the east of the country, has long been a volatile area since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, despite repeated military operations against militant groups.