Robert Gates arrives to this:
A suicide car bomb detonated Sunday evening near a market in Balad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 40 others, an Interior Ministry official said.The bomb exploded near an Iraqi army checkpoint outside the market in Balad, north of the capital.
The bombing came as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit. He was in Baghdad to meet Iraqi government leaders and U.S. commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
It also came on the same day that insurgents killed five members of a neighborhood watch group that has been helping coalition forces fight al Qaeda in Iraq elements.
