Defence minister vows bloody revenge for car bombing
Iraq’s defence minister today promised bloody revenge for the suicide car bombing at a Baghdad recruitment centre that killed at least 35 men hoping to join the army.
“We will cut off the hands of those people, we will slit their throats if it is necessary to do so,” said Hazem al-Shalan.
“For those people who want to join the new Iraqi army, we will protect them and we will find them a safe location so they can submit their applications.”
Asked if the new government would impose martial law if security continues to deteriorate, interim Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib said: “If we need to do it, yes, we’ll do it, we won’t hesitate. This is the security of our country … the security and the life of our people.”
A decision to impose martial law would be up to the prime minister, al-Shalan said.
The explosion near the recruitment centre yesterday scattered bodies, blood and debris across a four-lane road.
Most of the dead and more than 130 injured were impoverished Iraqis desperate to take jobs in the security forces because of a lack of alternatives in a country with up to 45% unemployment.
They took their chances at the recruitment centre even after the February bombing there killed 47 people.
