A suicide bomber has killed five Sunni Arab tribal leaders in Iraq's Diyala province, police said.

The men were killed when the bomber blew himself up in a meeting of the Diyala Salvation Council, which was set up to oppose al-Qaeda in Iraq in the province.

Police said that three other people were wounded in the attack in the village of Dojemah, near the town of Khalis.

Among those killed were the deputy head of the Diyala Salvation Council, Sheikh Faeiz Lefta al-Obaidi.

The Diyala Salvation Council was set up after the apparent success that tribal leaders had driving al-Qaeda out of al-Anbar province in the west of the country.

Diyala, a mixed Shia and Sunni province northeast of Baghdad, has been among Iraq's most violent areas in recent months.

Sheikh Yunis al-Tai, a Sunni leader who had urged his community to confront al-Qaeda in the province was killed in an explosion at his home in August. 

While, on October 29, a suicide bomber on a bicycle killed 30 Iraqi policeman at a base in Diyala, in the deadliest recent suicide bombing in Iraq.

 

July raids

In July, US and Iraqi forces conducted military raids in Diyala province with assistance from local tribal groups, aimed at clearing al-Qaeda strongholds from the province.

US troops entered villages and towns first, while Iraqi forces held the positions afterwards. The military operation was followed by rebuilding efforts in an attempt to win over residents.

However, the approach appears to have met with mixed success as al-Qaeda fighters have responded by moving to other areas within the province.