Twin suicide blasts kill 9 in western Iraq

An Iraqi spokesman for Anbar province says two suicide bombers blew themselves up and killed at least nine people in the provincial capital of Ramadi. Mohammed Fathi says that first, a suicide bomber driving a minibus blew himself up near the government compound.

Fathi said that a few minutes later a man wearing an explosives vest blew himself up about nearby.

Ramadi is the seat of the Anbar provincial government and used to be a stronghold of al-Qaida. But in recent years, local militias have managed to bring a measure of calm to the city and province.