Bomb kills at least one in Iraq's Diyala

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb killed at least one person in the northern Iraqi city of Baquba on Monday, the U.S. military said.

Iraqi police earlier said a female suicide bomber had killed nine people and wounded 12 in the capital of Diyala province, but the U.S. military said only one woman was killed when she accidentally triggered a bomb planted in a women's clothing store.

That blast wounded 16 people, the U.S. military said in a statement, adding there were no other known bomb attacks in Baquba on Monday.

"A pressure plated improvised explosive device detonated in a women's clothing store in Diyala, killing an unsuspecting Iraqi woman who unknowingly stepped on the device," the military said.

Iraqi television pictures of the blast showed a small shop selling wedding dresses with its windows blown out.

There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in the U.S. military and police accounts.

Sunni Islamist insurgents have sought to stoke tensions in religiously mixed Diyala, where numerous suicide bombings have been carried out by women this year.

Last month, a female suicide bomber blew herself up among policemen outside a restaurant in Baquba, killing 15 people.

A sustained military campaign against al Qaeda has pushed the group out of its traditional strongholds in Anbar province and Baghdad in the past year. But its fighters remain a threat in the north, especially in northern Nineveh province and its capital Mosul, as well as in Diyala. (Writing by Tim Cocks and Mohammed Abbas, Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)