Female bomber kills seven in northeast Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Six members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol and a civilian were killed in an attack by a female suicide bomber in northeast Iraq on Thursday, police said.

The bombing in provincial capital Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, wounded 24 other people. It was the latest in a string of attacks in volatile Diyala province.

It was not immediately known who was behind the action but Sunni Islamist al Qaeda has sought to stoke tensions in religiously and ethnically mixed Diyala.

Two suicide bombers killed at least 20 people in Baquba earlier this month.

Several suicide bombings have been carried out by women in recent months. Women are less likely to attract the attention of male security guards because of Arab conventions on relations between men and women.

(Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Angus MacSwan)