FALLUJAH, Iraq, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Multiple suicide
bomb attacked the house of a Sunni tribal leader during a gathering in a town
near the city of Fallujah Wednesday, killing at least 21people and wounded some
50 others, local police and medical sources said.
"Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts blew
themselves up at about 5:00 p.m. (1300 GMT) among a crowd of the al-Jumailat
tribe in the house of Sheikh Meshhin al-Khalaf in the town of Garmah," a police
source in the town told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Afterwards, two more suicide bombers sneaked among
dozens of people gathered to help evacuating casualties and blew themselves up,
the source said.
Earlier, Khalaf called on a gathering in his house to
urge his tribesmen join the Iraqi security forces to fight the al-Qaida
militants in Iraq's western Anbar province, the source added.
Many of the wounded people were in critical
condition, he said.
Khalaf's house was totally destroyed by the blasts,
the source said, adding that several nearby houses and a police station were
also damaged.
Ambulances, police vehicles and private cars
transferred killed and wounded people to the General Hospital in Fallujah.
Tribal leaders in Iraq's predominantly Sunni province
of Anbar have turned against militiamen of al-Qaida organization, encouraging
their sons to joint the local security forces to fight militiamen of al-Qaida
network.
Residents in western Iraq often blame al-Qaida
organization in Iraq for deadly attacks after rifts emerged between Sunni tribes
and al-Qaida's militants.
Al-Qaida's adherence to a hardline form of Sunni
Islam and indiscriminate killings has brought it into conflict with some Sunni
tribes in Anbar province where Fallujah and Ramadi located.