http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071225/wl_afp/iraqunrestbaijiSuicide truck bomb kills 20 in northern Iraq
Tue Dec 25, 4:13 AM ET
TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) - A suicide truck bomb attack against a Iraqi army checkpoint near the northern town of Baiji on Tuesday killed at least 20 people and wounded 80 others, a security official told AFP. snip
Around 80,000 Sunni Arabs who were former rebels and fought the US military alongside Al-Qaeda have now turned on the Islamist group in several volatile Sunni regions of Iraq.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has vowed to launch attacks against groups such as Al-Sahwa -- or the Awakening -- in a bid to draw them back into the anti-American insurgency.
The US military pays around 300 dollars to each member of these Awakening councils, which have been a key factor in reducing violence across Iraq in the past few months.