Suicide attack kills 20 west of Baghdad, car bomb in Mosul leaves 18 people dead

A suicide bomber struck Thursday inside a municipal building west of Baghdad, killing at least 20 people at a meeting of tribal sheiks opposed to al-Qaida, police said. The U.S. confirmed American casualties but gave no further details.

Another 18 people were killed and about 60 wounded in a car bombing Thursday near a government headquarters in the northern city of Mosul, officials said. The attacks were part of a spike in violence in Iraq after weeks of relative calm.

Col. Fawzi Fraih, civil defense director of Anbar province, said the sheiks were meeting with Americans when the attack occurred in the town of Karmah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of …