Baghdad blast kills 15

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - A suicide bombing killed 15 people, including a leader of a U.S.-backed militia, and wounded nearly 30 others Sunday in a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad, Iraqi authorities said.

Faruq al-Obaidi, the deputy leader of the Awakening Council in Adamiya, was among the dead, and two of his sons were among the 29 wounded in the blast, an Interior Ministry official told CNN.

The bombing took place about 8 p.m. (noon ET) outside a coffee shop in Adamiya, a Sunni stronghold in northeastern Baghdad. The bomber parked his bicycle near the shop and approached al-Obaidi, who was in a car at the time, the official said.

The Awakening Councils have been recruited by the U.S. military to fight against Islamic jihadists loyal to al Qaeda in Iraq and other militias. U.S. commanders credit the movement for much of the sharp reduction in violence there over the past year, but the jihadists have denounced its leaders as traitors and have frequently targeted them.