| Iraqi police guard site where head of Diyala provincial council Hussein Alwan al-Tamimi was killed in Baquoba |
A series of suicide car bombings and two-bomb rigged motorcycles killed at least 33 people across northern Iraq Thursday.
The worst attack was on a restaurant in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, where bodyguards of Deputy Prime Minster Rowsch Nouri Shaways were eating. Twelve people were killed. Mr. Shaways was not present.
Bombers also struck the gates of a state-run oil firm in Kirkuk and a government convoy in Baquba.
Two parked motorcycles rigged with bombs also exploded outside a cafe in Mosul, killing five people.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Interior Ministry says 700 terror suspects have been arrested and a huge number of weapons seized so far in a massive security sweep in Baghdad that began Sunday.
Operation Lightning is aimed against Iraqi insurgents.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
