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Those targeted in particular included the Awakening Councils of Sunni tribal chieftains, who have collaborated with American forces against Sunni insurgents, The New York Times reported.

The group was meeting in a tent in the town of Garma in Anbar Province when the bomb exploded.

"As usual we entered the tent at 9 a.m.", said Hilal Abdullah Ali, a senior sheik from the Albu Alwan tribe. "At around 10:30 there was a big explosion. I heard the person sitting next to me say 'he exploded himself on us.'"

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said a suicide bomber in Anbar province attacked municipal council headquarters in Karma, killing 18 people and wounding 25 others, CNN reported. Among the dead were Karma's administrative director, three police officers and three sheiks attending a meeting.

Officials said it was the third attack in a week against a local branch of the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

In Mosul, another 16 people died and 85 were hurt in two bombings near a busy market in the center of the city, officials said.

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