(RTTNews) - At least six people were killed in a suicide bombing in the volatile northeastern Iraqi province of Diyala on Tuesday, according to police officials and local media reports.

The casualties occurred when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vest inside a cafe in the town of Buhriz, located south of the provincial capital of Baquba. Ten others were injured in the explosion.

Local reports suggest that Leith Mishaan, the local head of a government-allied Sunni Arab militia, was among those killed in the attack. He was inside the cafe with some of his followers when the explosion took place.

Diyala province was earlier considered to be the hot bed of al-Qaeda insurgency in Iraq. Though the security situation in the province improved after the introduction of U.S.-backed local anti-al-Qaeda groups known as Awakening Councils, the once-restive province has witnessed several bombing and suicide attacks on police and Iraqi army checkpoints in the recent past.

There has been a spurt in attacks following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from towns and cities of Iraq on 30th June, handing over responsibilities of urban security to Iraqi troops. The 130,000 combat troops of the U.S. army have since been relocated to rural bases in Iraq, some six years after the invasion. The relocation is in line with a bilateral security agreement to pullout all U.S. troops from Iraq end 2011.

Despite the drop in violence in Iraq since last year, the recent increase in attacks have raised fears that sustained violence could return to the country, especially with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities and towns.

Official figures indicate that a total of 456 people, including 393 civilians, 48 police and 15 Iraqi soldiers, were killed in Iraq in August, making it the deadliest month in over a year. It was the highest monthly toll in Iraq since July 2008, when 465 people were killed in similar attacks.