15 Iraqis killed in police HQ suicide blast
A suicide bomber blew himself up while standing in a line of recruits outside Fallujah’s police headquarters today, killing at least 15 people and wounding 30.
The attack aimed at discouraging Sunni Arabs from joining the force, police said.
Thirteen of the dead were recruits and two were policemen, said police 1st Lt. Omar Ahmed.
Police also found the bodies of 14 Iraqi men in Baghdad who apparently were the latest victims of a wave of sectarian violence involving death squads that kidnap civilians, torture them in captivity and dump their bodies on city streets.
The attack in Fallujah, a former insurgent stronghold 40 miles west of Baghdad, was part of an insurgent campaign against US efforts to bring more Sunnis into the police and army.
The bomber, dressed in civilian clothes, struck outside the entrance of the police building. His hidden bomb exploded several minutes after he joined the crowd of recruits waiting to enter the building and apply for jobs, Ahmed said.
Yesterday, the bodies of four Iraqi soldiers were found in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, two days after they graduated from basic training as part of the first all-Sunni class, according to police.
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, is 30 miles west of Fallujah.
Yesterday, Anbar Governor Maamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani was treated for minor injuries after a bomb attack on his convoy near Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, a doctor said.
Iraqi police first said the attack involved a roadside bomb that killed three of al-Alwani’s bodyguards and wounded four, but the US military said the explosion was caused by a suicide attacker driving a car. The military said 10 Iraqi civilians were killed and five of the governor’s bodyguards wounded.
The 14 bodies found near Baghdad’s main amusement park Wednesday were men in their 20s and 30s, who had been handcuffed, tied up and shot in the head, said police 1st Lt. Thaeir Mahmoud.
Elsewhere, a mortar round was fired at Camp Echo, a military camp in southern Iraq where Polish forces are based, said Iraqi army Capt. Ali Hakim.
No casualties were immediately reported, but the mortar appeared to explode inside the camp and it was immediately sealed off by Polish forces, Hakim said.
Poland, a US ally, has about 900 troops in Iraq.
