Suicide bombing kills 15 at police station
A suicide attacker exploded a car bomb outside a Baqouba police station today, killing 15 Iraqis and injuring at least 37.
General Walid al-Azawi, chief of police in Diyala Province, said a bomber detonated his car at the al-Najda police station in central Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
Hospital official, Hussein Ali, said at least 37 people were admitted with injuries, some serious.
The al-Najda station is also used as a recruiting centre for Iraqis wanting to join the police.
Officials said later that at least 45 people were injured.
Ambulances converged on the scene and ferried the dead and injured to the nearby hospital while police sealed off the area surrounding the attacked police station, preventing large crowds or onlookers, including the media, from approaching the building.
Baqouba has been the scene of regular anti-coalition attacks since US-led forces invaded Iraq in March, 2003, but fighters have also targeted Iraqi police forces, who are regarded as easier targets than the better equipped American troops.
On July 19, a fuel tanker truck ploughed towards a police station in southwest Baghdad, detonating and killing at least nine people and wounding more than 60 people.
