Death toll from Iraq Tal Afar bombing rises to 24

TAL AFAR, Iraq, May 10 (Reuters) The death toll from suicide bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar has risen to 24 from 17, police today said.

The bomber blew up his car in a market in the city, which U S President George W Bush earlier this year held up as an example of progress being made in Iraq, three years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

An Iraqi police official said 35 people were also wounded in the blast. A hospital source said the casualties included civilians as well as Iraqi police and troops.

The U.S. military earlier said the bombing killed at least 16 civilians and wounded 134 others, adding that U.S. troops treated more than 60 of the victims and that 24 of them were in a critical condition.

In March, Bush called Tal Afar a ''a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq'' after U S-led forces freed it from al Qaeda militants in a 2005 offensive.

REUTERS SY HT1700